Path of Endurance
by Kogamitsu
Summary: A story about a certain Bryan who was born as a normal kid, but ended up a merciless psycho. Other characters OC Brianna, Lei, Kazuya, Lee, Yoshimitsu, Bruce. M just to cover my rear. Please, PLEASE R&R!
1. Beginning of Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 1: Beginning of Fury

"BRIANNAAAAAA!"

10-year-old Brianna Grendel leaped up from her bed in the middle of the night. Her father's voice was demanding as usual, but also filled with pure panic. Brianna ran into the living room of their small apartment in the middle of Queen's downtown. The apartment was very small and cramped; Brianna had to jump over a sofa and a coffee table to her parents' bedroom. She had already guessed why she was needed in the middle of the night.

"What, it's time?" Brianna inquired.

"Just shut up, Brianna, and get me a bowl of warm water!" her father roared. Brianna left in a hurry – yes, she had guessed right. That night, her mother gave birth to her little brother. A lively and very loud baby boy, and Brianna liked him that instant. Her father, however, wasn't pleased. "This can't be happening... goddammit, one night without a lubber and what do I get? Nice'n'quick and another brat screaming into my ears!"

"Oh, come on, pops, he's cute", Brianna giggled, swinging her fingers near the baby's tummy. The baby grabbed her fingers, and as Brianna noted, he was unusually strong baby. The father just made a murderous glance at the boy and spat. "We're giving him away to the adoption center", he said. "We can't afford him, we can hardly afford you!"

But the next morning told terrible news. The mother had died during the night. She was given a proper funeral, since the town paid off the priest, the church and the tombstone. When the ceremony was over, the three Grendels left stood at the mother's grave. Cary – the father – had been drinking ever since the morning and was hardly able to stand up. Brianna held the newborn in her arms. She had more news to tell to Cary, but she wasn't sure how he would react.

"I spoke to the adoption center's owner today", she said.

"They're taking the brat?" Cary supposed and took a sip.

"No, they aren't."

"What?"

"We don't have a good reason enough to give him away, and now that mother's gone, the insurance money covers the costs of the baby."

Cary exploded. He pulled Brianna by her hair and screamed right into her face. "Are you telling me Annette died so the brat could live! That the insurance money is to be used for the brat! Hell no! Annette died BECAUSE of the brat!"

"That is not true!" Brianna cried out. "The doctors said her heart just stopped! I'm not sure what he meant, but he said that mom had 'taken too much medicine' so that her heart just couldn't take it."

She burst out in tears. Cary let go of her hair and pushed her over to the ground. Crying, he left the graveyard leaving Brianna and the newborn behind him. The newborn tried to hide himself from the freezing wind, seeking Brianna's body warmth to keep himself warm. Brianna dried her tears away and held the boy closer. "He's gonna go down the bottle again", she said to him. "We just have to hang on. We can't do it alone, so we must do it together. As a sister and a brother..."

Suddenly, she realized that the boy wasn't even named yet. "So what am I gonna call you when you grow up?" she wondered. "I guess it's up to me to name you, or else you will grow up as Brat Grendel. But what to call you? You need a name that will remind you that we are one, we are on the same side. Brianna and..."

A moment of silence.

"... and Bryan. Yes, that's what you will be. Bryan Grendel!"

As if to show his approval, Bryan snuggled up to Brianna. Brianna stood up from the ground and walked back home. Cary was watching sports TV with a bottle of booze in his hand, he didn't even notice that Brianna came back home. Brianna laid Bryan down onto her bunk. She opened a drawer from her dresser and filled its bottom with some clothes she didn't think she'd need for a while. She put a little blanket into it, turning it into a makeshift crib for Bryan. She didn't need anyone to tell her that it was up to her to look after and take care of her little brother.

Things went as Brianna had supposed. Cary just drank all day through, and when he wasn't drinking and watching TV, he was passed out cold. Brianna began skipping lessons here and there so she could go to school later and get back earlier. Bryan wasn't the hardest possible baby to look after, but he, too, needed attention. Brianna used whatever little math skills she had to count how much money she had in her usage, what would she need to buy and how much she could offer. It would take six years before she would be old enough to get a job, and she came into conclusion that the money wasn't sufficient.

Brianna had no other choice. Every day she went from neighbor to neighbor, begging whatever food supplied they would have. The neighbors didn't like it much though, and soon they didn't even open their doors to her. By this time, Bryan was a year old.

One day Brianna was caught of shoplifting a can of milk. The police took her home, and told Cary about it. Cary seemingly took it quite well, but as the police had returned to their businesses and Brianna was deep in her thought as in how she had gotten caught, Cary's fist woke her up from her thoughts. Brianna fell into the ground, holding her aching cheek. "If you bring in the cops here one more time, I'm gonna waste your sorry ass for good, and the same goes for your good-for-nothing brother, too!" Cary yelled, and stumbled back to the sofa.

Brianna's cheek felt as if it had been on fire. The punch had hurt her soul more than her flesh, but still she refused to cry. She held back her tears and stood up, shoving her feelings aside. She hadn't time to get emotional, she had to think of something else to earn her and Bryan's livelihood.

By the time Bryan turned five, Brianna had already figured out an answer. She had become a master pickpocket. No more shoplifting, and a lesser chance to get caught. Off course, some people had noted her during the act, but she was incredibly fast runner, and small enough to hide herself where she pleased.

Bryan himself had grown strong and big. Even with the minimal nutrition Brianna had to offer, he was bigger and stronger than that of the boys normally in his age. Brianna had taught him to walk and talk, thus he looked up to her as his caregiver. And because Brianna had quit calling Cary "dad", Bryan didn't call him that either. Not that he would have cared, anyway. To him, Cary was just some lazybone in front of the TV-set, drinking beer and cursing everything.

Brianna was fifteen then. She had turned from the little kid into a beautiful young woman with a strong sense of right and wrong. That didn't stop Cary from beating her up, though. She showed up at school with swollen lips and black eyes, getting her classmates worried. Brianna refused to accept whatever help she was offered; she had developed an obsession of taking care of problems by herself. She kept this obsession intact, until one conversation with a schoolfriend of hers, Jim. Jim was a caring friend, and though he would never admit it aloud, he held certain feelings towards Brianna. Brianna, however, was too busy studying, working and taking care of Bryan that she had no time nor any interest for her own feelings. Jim knew this, and left the ice unbroken.

"Why won't you do something about it?" Jim asked. "You know, call the cops or something."

"I can't", Brianna replied. "For Bryan's sake. The cops don't care about some bitch living with a drunk father and a baby brother. Cary'll just say I fell down the stairs and that's it. And after the cops are gone – pheeeeew! Brianna 'fell down the stairs' once more."

Brianna slammed her school locker close and picked up her schoolbag; "Listen, Jim, I appreciate your concern, but you'd be a wise man if you stayed out of this."

"Well, there's nothing I can do for you alright", Jim agreed. "But I know someone who surely can. Say, ever thought about taking up kickboxing?"

"Kickboxing?" Brianna cried out. "What do you think I am, some female gladiator? I can't even move a shelf without Bryan's help."

"Kickboxing – like any other martial art – does not require much strength. Besides, it would develop it. Is the name Bruce Irvin familiar to you?"

"Bruce Irvin... wait, is he the kickboxing heavy-weight champion of this year?"

"Yes, he is. Listen, I happen to know the guy. He's not such a bad guy, on the contrary; I'm sure he'll agree to train you once he hears the reason."

Brianna felt unsure, but after the schoolday had come to its end, Jim took Brianna to a small gym on the other side of the area. There was an Afro-American man, near his thirties, punching a bag harder than Brianna was able to believe. Jim greeted him loudly, and the man replied as loudly as Jim – they obviously had known each other for quite the while. "Jim, you got the sports tape for me?" the man inquired. Jim threw a roll of tape to him, and the man sat down to a mattress to tape up two of his fingers together.

"Bruce, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine", Jim said, sitting down and pulling Brianna to sit down, too. "This is Brianna Grendel. She goes to the same school as I do."

Brianna nodded hesitantly. Bruce took a good look at her, apparently liking what he saw, too. His dark eyes smiled at her, making her feel a bit more safer than a moment ago.

"Brianna, this is Bruce Irvin, the heavy-weight champion of kickboxing", said Jim. Bruce cut the sports tape roll from his fingers and shook hands with Brianna. "Nice to meet you", he smiled.

"The honor is all mine, Mr. Irvin", Brianna replied. Bruce let out a horselaugh: "No need for formalities. Call me Bruce, just like everyone else does."

Brianna nodded. Bruce studied her face for a while, and even though Brianna's brown hair hid her scars and bruises quite well, Bruce saw them. "Say, uh, you OK? You look like someone gave you a one, helluva beating."

"No!" Brianna cried out exactly the same time as Jim replied "Yes!"

"That's the reason why I brought her here", Jim told before Brianna had a chance to say anything. "Brianna's having some serious family problems; her dad's beating her up all the time but she doesn't dare to call cops because she's afraid of what might happen to her little brother."

A deep silence landed upon the gym.

"I see..." Bruce said after a while. "Sorry to hear that."

"So uh, could you like, you know... train her?" Jim inquired. By now, Brianna's face had become beet-red with embarrassment. She couldn't believe that she was actually asking for help. Bruce, however, took it quite well. He gave it some serious thought. "Hmm... yeah, I think I could... for a right price", he finally said.

"Price...?" Brianna asked, her voice shaking. "I... don't have any money. Everything I earn, I use for food for me and Bryan."

"Couldn't she pay you some other way?" Jim asked. "Other than... in nature, that is."

"Actually, yes, she could, other way than in nature, too", Bruce said. "You see, I have to train a lot to keep up with this heavy-weight champion-shit, but I have to work too, to earn my livelihood. So I don't have much time for my apartment, which hasn't been cleaned since the Christ was born. And I'm fed up with take-away foods. I'll train you daily if you clean a bit and cook some food for me, say, three times a week. Deal?"

Brianna's lips curved into a smile. "Deal."

To be continued...


	2. Enduring Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 2: Enduring Fury

From that day, Brianna quit her school permanently. Three times a week she cleaned Bruce's apartment and cooked for him, and every morning she went to the gym to be trained. First she feared that Bruce was seeking to use her for his own pleasures, but she was pleasantly surprised to find out Bruce wasn't that kind of man at all. He was a true professional. And as Brianna was taught in such an intensity, she learned quickly and her strength increased in an incredible speed.

Little Bryan turned seven and he would start school soon. Every day he was playing outside when Brianna returned from the gym. She ran or jogged, as usual, but Bryan had noted that for two years Brianna had come home from a wrong direction. Obvisouly, not from the school. One day Bryan had climbed to a tree to see a bird's nest closer. The bird appeared to be a mockingbird, and it had few eggs in its nest.

Brianna jogged home and saw Bryan in a tree. There was nothing unusual about it, but Brianna wondered what held Bryan's attention so tight. She walked under the tree. "Bryan!" she hollered. "Whatcha got there?"

"A bird's nest, sis!"Bryan hollered back. "And three eggs."

"Hey, come down from there! Don't bother Mrs. Birdie, she's busy with looking after her eggs."

"...'kay", Bryan muttered and started to climb down. Unfortunately, a branch he held tight on gave up and snapped, sending Bryan falling down hard. Two years of training had sharpened Brianna's reflexes and muscle strength, and she caught her falling brother with ease. The impact was quite hard nonetheless; Brianna lost her balance and fell down on her butt with Bryan in her arms.

"Oww... that smarts", Brianna grinned while rubbing her aching backside.

"Sorry, sis..." Bryan muttered.

"It's okay, Bryan", Brianna replied with a smile as she ran her finger's through Bryan's short, white hair. They were left staring at each other for a moment. It was during those kind of moments when neither one of them wondered why destiny had named them almost identically; why Brianna was Brianna and why something had whispered Bryan's name into her ear. But also, that moment, Bryan suddenly saw how much Brianna had changed during the last two years. She was bigger than he remembered – Brianna hadn't grown taller nor fatter, more like thinner, her arms and legs were thicker and shoulders had grown wider. Her smile was still the same – warm and encouraging, and her eyes were still as sad as ever. Her eyes and her lips had always fought against each other when they tried to express how she felt inside. Brianna, however, kept everything inside her to herself. Her feelings were not for others to know.

All of sudden, Cary's drunken voice broke the silence. "BRIANNAAAAAA! Goddamn that bitch, where has she gone now..."

Cary stumbled out from their apartment, as drunk as a pig. When he saw Brianna and Bryan sitting under the tree, he came closer that instant and once again Brianna was struck down by her father's fist. "You were suppose'ta clean and cook, not to play with that idiot brother of yours!" he roared. He rose up his fist to strike Bryan as well, but before the fist reached her brother, Brianna parried it. Bryan leapt up and hopped to a safe distance. Brianna stood up as well and felt instantly Bryan's hand reaching for her own. Due to Cary's recent violent behavior, Bryan had begun to fear him. Which was, quite frankly, a wise thing to do.

"I just came from school", Brianna said. "I was about to fulfill my tasks soon enough."

"Bullshit!" Cary howled. "I spoke with your teachers, they haven't seen you at school for two years now, you cheating whore!"

All color was drained from Brianna's face. She was caught, and this would not end up well.

"I've also heard you spend quite much time with some nigger on the other side of the area", Cary spat. "They say you quit school to screw with the nigger every day."

"That is not true", Brianna said firmly. "Our relationship is not of that kind."

"LIAR!" Cary said, giving another punch on her face. The punch was hard enough to strike Brianna on the ground. She knew she was trained to defend herself, but she didn't find it in her heart to strike back. Not now. But one day, maybe...

"You lying bitch!" Cary shouted like a madman. "Quite frankly I don't give a shit about what you're doing, just make sure you're not bringing any half-breed kids into this house!"

With that, Cary left. Bryan helped his sister to sit up from the ground. As soon as Brianna had found strength again to stand up, Bryan couldn't help but asking:

"Why did you protect only me?"

Brianna looked down at him. "What do you mean?"

"He... he was gonna hit me, but you... you protected me with your hand. But when he hit you, you didn't protect yourself!"

A gentle smile crept on Brianna's lips once more. She crouched down and ran her fingers through Bryan's hair one more time. "I don't raise my hand to protect myself. Not yet. But I will do everything I can to protect you, from whatever I must, so that one day you could do the same to someone who is as dear to you as you are to me."

She gave a gentle kiss to his forehead. Still, Bryan was a bit shaken. "Is it true that you don't go to school anymore?" he asked. Brianna nodded hesitantly – she wasn't sure of Bryan's reaction. He just held his sister from her shoulders.

"But... Brianna..."

Bryan had an odd way of pronouncing his sister's name. It sounded almost as if he had said his own name, more like "Bryan-ah" than Brianna. Brianna preferred Bryan-ah to Brianna, all the way. She placed her finger on Bryan's lips to silence him. "Hush now, bro. That is not your migraine, and you don't have to worry about it."

She stood up and felt the world take a spin. Her head ached badly and she was dying to get some ice on her cheek. "Come on", she said. "Let's sneak inside and see if we can 'borrow' some ice from Cary."

Bryan learned to live with the fact that Cary was always beating Brianna and yelling at her. And even though Brianna protected him from Cary's anger, Bryan had a feeling he would get his share too. It was one particular day when Bryan got out from school earlier than usually, so he took his old skateboard and began to skate back home. Oddly enough, Brianna wasn't home when Bryan got there. And now that Brianna wasn't on sight, Cary let out all his anger on Bryan. He was already pissed off when Bryan arrived, Cary was furious because Brianna hadn't come home yet. Immediately he began questioning Bryan of her whereabouts, but Bryan didn't know. And before he noted, Cary punched him off his skateboard. Frustrated and angry, Cary broke the skateboard in two and threw the halves away. And after beating Bryan for his heart's content, he stumbled back inside and passed out in front of their TV.

Bryan sat down under a tree – the same tree where the mockingbird had made her nest, and where Brianna had caught him mid-air. He sobbed. It was one of the rare times he was alone, and oh, how he missed Brianna that instant. His body hurt like never before, even though he had fallen from trees all the way to the ground as well.

Fearing Cary might return, he felt it wouldn't be any use to stay there. He decided to go look for Brianna, even though he knew she was on the other side of the area. Bryan forced himself up and began limping where he thought Brianna could be.

Meanwhile Bruce watched Brianna's performance, feeling very proud of his student. Brianna had developed a style of her own, differenting quite much from Bruce's kickboxing. Her stance was way lower than that of his, and there were slight sadistic features in her techniques. When she was done with the punching back, Bruce broke down in applauds.

"That's just brilliant, Brianna!" Bruce cheered. "Not only have you learned the basics perfectly, you have developed a whole style of your own!"

Suddenly the door to the gym was opened. Both of them turned to look as in came Bryan with his last ounces of strength. He whispered silently Brianna's name before passing out on the floor. Brianna rushed to him, tearing her boxing gloves off and picked him up in her arms. Bruce came closer to look, too. Bryan was all over overed with bruises, blood and tears – Brianna didn't have to guess twice what had happened. "Oh, no..." she whispered. "Bryan, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

She snuggled at her KO'ed brother.

"Whoah, damn..." Bruce gasped. "That your brudda? Your dad beat him up, too?"

"It's all my fault", Brianna cried. "I shouldn't have left him there with Cary. I knew this was gonna happen if I do so."

They laid Bryan onto a sofa and Bruce brought whatever first aid supplies he found. He taught Brianna how to heal these kind of injuries while treating Bryan's wounds himself. As he was done, he straightened up his back and watched for a while as Brianna kept running her finger's through Bryan's hair. "Listen, uh..." Bruce began. "As your teacher, I'd never be allowed to say this, but I think you should use your training the next time this oughtta happen, ya know. I know it's not legal, but this ain't either. You must stand up to defend both your brudda and yourself."

Brianna kept caressing her brother's hair. "I would run into more trouble", she supposed.

"Then get the hell out of town!" Bruce cried out. "Listen, you're the big sis, you oughtta know what's best for your brudda. Take him and get the hell out of this town, as far from your old man as possible, you dig?"

Brianna nodded. "It's getting late", she said. "We should be going now."

She picked up Bryan into her arms and headed towards the gym door. Bruce took the last glance at her. "Brianna... promise me you'll fight if necessarry", he said. The girl turned to look. Finally she nodded; "I promise. Thank you for everything, Bruce."

To be continued...


	3. Undead Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Brianna's lullaby is a slightly modified chorus of Eminem's "Mockingbird"

Chapter 3: Undead Fury

The next few days were pretty calm. Baseball season had begun, so either Cary was passed out or too concerned with the game to even notice Bryan or Brianna. Brianna, however, made sure Bryan was never alone with Cary anymore. She told Bryan to stay out of the house when she wasn't in – he didn't need to be told twice. The tree of the mockingbird became his shelter, since Cary was way too fat and clumsy to try to climb into the tree. Not that he hadn't tried; when his favorite team lost, he once again sought someone to blame. But Brianna was at Bruce's gym and Bryan had climbed into the tree. When Brianna wasn't there, Bryan was always in the tree. It was the only place he felt safe when his sister wasn't present. So there he was, let it rain or shine, and it rained AND shined. Bryan always waited patiently for Brianna to arrive.

It was one rainy day when Bryan was sitting on one of the branches again. Mrs. Mockingbird had actually gotten used to him hanging around, so she took care of her hatched offspring without being bothered. Bryan tried to keep himself warm by tucking his legs near him. Air was chilly and he was already soaked wet when he saw Brianna jogging home again from Bruce's gym. She, too, was quite wet as she walked to the tree. "Bryan!" she hollered. "You ok? You look kinda pale."

Bryan just looked down at her. He felt too cold and too tired to reply, not to mention too tired to climb down again. Brianna saw all the way down from there that Bryan wasn't ok – he was ill. He shivered with cold and had a bad-sounding cough seizure. Without hesitating, Brianna grabbed a branch she reached well and climbed up. Her moving surprisingly slender despite her unusual muscle size. In no time she reached the branch where Bryan was sitting. After shooing the attacking Mrs. Mockingbird, Brianna tried Bryan's face with the back of her hand. He was burning hot; he must have had a high temperature. He, however, reacted to Brianna's touch. He lifted up his sight to meet his sister's eyes. He didn't say a word, but his eyes told everything; he was pleading for help.

Brianna kicked herself into action. "Try to get a hold around me", she said. Bryan tucked his hands around Brianna's neck and wrapped his legs around her thin waist. Snuggling the same way he always had, he kept himself as near as possible. Now that Bryan squeezed himself towards her, Brianna felt how high his temperature must be. But the hard part had yet to come; how could he get back down with Bryan in her arms? The branches were slippery and propably wouldn't hold both of their weights at the same time. Brianna found no other way but to drop down, as far from the tree as possible. She grabbed a strong-looking branch and traversed away from the tree only with her hands. Seeing herself monkey-swing with ease, Brianna understood now herself that her powers had grown massively. With this new dose of courage, she let go of the branch and dropped down softly; first on her feet, but the impact forced her on her knees – it would have ultimately made her drop on top of Bryan, but on the last minute she twisted her waist to land on her back so her weight would not crush him. Not the most graceful sight, but Brianna had never bothered her mind about making her movements graceful and slender; her focus was on the power and efficiency. Even now she jumped on her feet and brought Bryan inside from the rain. Luckily Cary had passed away once again, so she could potter about in the house without any disturbances. First off she helped Bryan take off his wet clothes and wear new, dry and warm ones. The episode was disturbed by another fit of merciless coughing that tore Bryan's little body. The coughing triggered a painful tearing in his head; he felt like his head would be pierced in two from inside. Brianna helped him to lie down on his bed and pulled a willow over him, tucking him in warmly. He cried the tormenting pain he felt all over his body; his muscles ached so hard he couldn't move. Still, he grabbed Brianna by her hand; he looked at her, his eyes pleading her not to leave him. Brianna had no intention to. She sat down onto Bryan's bed and began running her fingers through his hair again. Her touch soothed Bryan more than anything else ever could; for so many times had Brianna helped him when he was in troubles, healed him when he was injured, even stood up to defend him when he was attacked. Brianna was the name of God in his lips and heart. There was no other person in the world he trusted like he trusted her; his attitude towards her was close to worshipment..

He listened to Brianna's silent singing until he finally fell asleep;

_Now hush, my brother, don't you cry_

_Everything's gonna be alright_

_Stiffen up that upper lip, my brother, I told ya_

_I'm here to hold ya through the night_

After Brianna was sure Bryan was asleep, she stood up carefully and walked into their cramped kitchen. She placed a bowl of water on their heater and searched cabins for tea or juice or anything that could be warmed up and given to Bryan. She blamed herself for leaving Bryan out in the cold for so many times, accusing herself of his illness. After few desperate rounds around the kitchen Brianna finally found Japanese green tea from a drawer. She dropped a little less than handful of the dry tea leaves into the boiling water. A warm, sweet scent filled her senses the instant she inhaled the steam of the water. She let the water boil lightly few minutes before picking the tea leaves from the bowl and pouring the tea into Bryan's mug. Brianna had bought it to him on his 5th birthday. It had been originally a plain white mug, but Brianna had painted black, a little flame-like tribals on the sides of the mug, both a mirror-image of each other. Upon Bryan's inquiry about them, Brianna had explained she had seen a dream of him – he was older, an adult in the dream, and he had two tribal tattoos in his neck. Brianna remembered the tribal tattoos so clearly she had been able to draw them later on.

Brianna brought the mug of tea to Bryan. She hated to wake him up, but knowing the hot tea would only do good to him, she gently shook him off his dream. "I brought some tea to you", she said softly. "Please, drink it when it's hot."

She helped him to sit up. He leaned heavily on her, and was barely able to hold the mug by himself. Brianna lifted him into her lap and leaned to the wall next to Bryan's bunk while Bryan slowly drank the tea. When he finished it, Brianna placed the mug onto Bryan's bedside table and leaned back to the wall. Automatically she began running her fingers through Bryan's hair without noticing it herself.

Suddenly, Bryan's weak voice broke the silence.

"Sis?"

Brianna smiled at her brother.

"Yes, bro?"

A long silence.

"... nothing, sis", Bryan finally said. "Wanted to know if you're still here... don't leave me, sis."

Brianna was touched by this sudden attention. She gave a kiss to Bryan's hair and wrapped her hands around him. She kicked her boots off and laid down onto the bunk with Bryan. She tucked Bryan inside the willow, and it didn't take long before Bryan fell asleep again. Brianna didn't feel like going to sleep yet, so she stealthly got up and attented to her duties. She was cleaning the kitchen when she heard heavy footsteps approaching the kitchen. After a while, Cary stumbled in, still as drunk as a pig. Brianna didn't say a word – she hated Cary with all her heart, she hated him for accusing Bryan of their mother's death, hated him for beating her and Bryan, but what's most, she hated him for hating Bryan, who was too young to understand why. A blind rage engulfed her mind every time she saw Cary.

Cary opened up their fridge in search of a new bottle of beer. Upon finding one, he cracked it open and drank like he hadn't drunk ever before. Brianna was disgusted; she turned her back on Cary and tried to mind her own business. Cary let out a belch loud enough to send a cat running with its tail between its legs. "Hey Brianna", he hollered. "What's for dinner?"

"Eat your nails", Brianna muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

Cary pulled Brianna by her hair. "Don'tcha dare to speak to me like that, woman!" he shouted at her face.

"Let go of me!" Brianna cried out and tried to shove Cary away from her. Cary only pulled harder for that. He rised up his hand and slammed it hard down on Brianna's face. But while he was on downswing, Brianna was on upswing, and she sent her knee fast into Cary's balls.

Hard.

Cary let go of her hair immediately, his eyes had bugged out, his mouth formed a little mis-shaped O and his voice pitched up a little. Brianna backed down, trying to keep her breathing calm and her panic at bay. "That does it!" she snapped. "I don't have to take this from anybody, especially not from you! I'm getting outta here, and I'm taking Bryan with me!"

She walked quickly towards the kitchen's door, but Cary had recovered faster than she had thought. He rised up the half-empty bottle and broke it hard into Brianna's head. She let out a shriek as she slumped onto the floor and ceased moving. Cary watched as a pool of blood formed to the floor around her head. Only then it struck to him what he had done. He felt his legs couldn't stand any longer; he sat down onto a chair to think what to do. All that came to his mind was to get rid of the body and tell the people Brianna ran off without a trace.

But what about Bryan? He sure would begin to question around.

Bryan, that little pest! Had he never been born, Cary's wife would still be alive! He couldn't care less what would happen to that little brat. On the other hand, wouldn't it be great to re-unite the siblings again?

Cary snickered at the idea. Yes, to kill Bryan, too. Or, frame him as a murderer. You know what TV does to the youngsters of these days. But as Cary planned, he began feeling sleepy. Not willing to spend a night in the same house with a dead woman, he stumbled into the darkening evening to spend his night at somewhere else.

It kept on raining all evening and all night. The clock struck 3 – it was Devil's midnight, and thunder roared outside. A bolt of lightning lit Brianna's dead-pale face for one, tiny moment. The pool of blood had grown bigger by the time being, and it grew bigger all the time. It almost waved like an ocean when winds hit it, creating an illusion that she would have breathed.

Except it was not an illusion.

Brianna was acutely aware of a throb on the side of her neck. Her pulse. She forced her eyes to open up, even if only just a halfway up. She saw the lightnings stricking outside, the thunder roar faded in and out of her sound threshold. There was only that, and an endless, tormenting pain at the back of her head. But no memory whatsoever of what had happened. She remembered tucking in Bryan... oh, how she loved Bryan. She loved her brother more than anything else in the world, she would do anything for him. And now the poor thing was ill. Still, while being awake, he had called her name just to make sure she still was there.

But then Brianna's mind darkened. She remember going into the kitchen to mind her own business. Cary had come – and when Cary's face popped into her mind, Brianna became enraged. A blind fury took over her mind. She remembered clearly that he took a bottle of beer from the fridge. A glass bottle. They argued... she was about to leave when she had felt a piercing pain in her head just before everything had blacked out.

Brianna looked around her. Not only the smell of beer was strong and clear, but she saw shattered pieces of glass near her, as well as half a broken bottle. She now understood clearly what had happened – Cary had tried to kill her. But somehow, she was still alive... he had failed. Brianna felt a pervert satisfaction somewhere at the back of her mind. An insane sneer crept upon her lips as she turned over in her blood. She was alive. Cary had failed. She was still alive. And as long as she was alive, Cary will have always failed. Her chest began to vibrate as something began to ooze out from her. Brianna crossed her hands tight over her torso and arched her back, as if she had enjoyed bathing in her blood. The pain in her head had become a secondary nuisance, in plain English she had quit to care about it. She smiled and snickered – until she reached towards the ceiling with her arms and let out a manical, cackling laughter.

"HYA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

A psychopathic glimmer had appeared into her eyes. She stood up from the blood, licking it from her hands and arms as she walked into their bathroom and enjoying its taste. The began filling their tub with water at the same time as she filled a sink with cold water. She undressed and sunk her bloody clothes into the cold water, and then she sunk herself into the tub. She allowed her head to sink under the surface; she was able to hold her breath for quite long. The shattered glass dropped down from her hair to the bottom of the tub, and the water gradually turned red for all the blood she was bleeding. Even though she hadn't even bothered to turn the lights on, she noted that all the color from her skin had drained. She was pale as if she truly was dead. Maybe she was. If only a little.

Her head popped up above the surface. She didn't gasp for air; she breathed in and out through her nose like she never had held her breath. Something inside her mind reminded her that Bryan was still there, and that he needed her. Brianna washed the blood away from her skin and hair, got out from the tub and dried herself. When drying her hair with a white towel, she realized she still hadn't fully quit bleeding. Luckily her long, brown hair absorbed the blood quite well. She combed away the rest of the glass from her head and wore new clothes. She chose her brownish, snake-skin trousers and a tight, black t-shirt along with her black pair of boots. After that, she cleaned up the blood from the floor before it had a chance to dry out. Everything must look normal, for Bryan's sake. He must never know what happened.

Brianna took a final glance at a mirror. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to see herself normal. There was something off, she just couldn't point her finger at it. Her eyes were dark and filled with hate, her skin was almost white and lifeless. Still, she silently entered her and Bryan's room. The boy was still asleep, cuddling the willow in his sleep. Brianna smiled warmly. She sat down next to him and gave a gentle stroke on his face. Bryan muttered something and tightened his grasp around the willow. Brianna kissed her brother's cheek and continued caressing his hair.

As the morning came, Cary was surprisingly enough sober as he returned home. Still a bit shaken of the night, he prepared himself to see Brianna's body still lying on the floor. His surprisement was unmeasurable as he saw nothing on the floor, not even bloodstains. He searched thoroughly the place where Brianna fell, but found nothing. And he was too into his search that he didn't notice Brianna who came up from behind him.

"Something lost, _Cary_?" she said, stressing his name. Cary leapt up from the ground and screamed as he saw Brianna, alive and standing. Brianna took a newspaper from their dining table and shoved it slightly into Cary's mouth.

"Shut up. You're waking up Bryan."

Cary was too shocked to even spit out the paper from his mouth. He just kept staring at Brianna, with his eyes wide on his face. Brianna continued making porrige and Cary finally calmed down a bit and took the paper off his mouth.

"Bri... Brianna?" he cried out.

Brianna didn't react. She finished making the porrige and filled a plate with it. She put some sugar on it and grabbed a spoon from a drawer.

"Brianna?" Cary's voice still trembled. "Brianna...!"

Brianna laid a murderous glance on him. "My name is Bryan-ah. Call me Brianna again and I'll shove that newspaper so far up your throat you'll be shitting headlines."

It was then when it struck Cary as well. Brianna was no longer herself – she had always been quite careful of things she has let out of her mouth, and she never would have spoken like that, not even to her worst enemy. The strike to her head must have damaged her brain, and thus altered her behaviour. He also had noted the insane look in her eyes – thus he knew he had to get rid of her before she would strike back. And she wouldn't strike back as long as she had something else on her mind... as long as Bryan would be sick. Cary had to make sure Bryan would keep Brianna preoccupied long enough for him to gather enough strength or manpower to silent her and Bryan forever. It was clear she had become a psychopath; a walking time-bomb that would be dangerous to herself and to others.

Brianna left the kitchen with the plate of porrige. She went back to her and Bryan's room, where Bryan already sat on his bunk. He had been feeling hungry whole morning and he empited his plate pretty quickly. Feeling satisfied, he let out a silent belch. Brianna snickered.

"You little piggy!" she teased as she tickled Bryan. Their laughter carried out into Cary's ears, making sweat drops fall from his forehead. The laughter was soon interrupted by Bryan's coughing. Brianna laid the back of her hand upon Bryan's cheek and felt that even though his temperature had cooled a bit, he still was sick. "You're not going to school today, you hear me?" she said. "You must rest so you'll get better."

Bryan nodded and laid down. Brianna tucked him in again, gave a kiss to his cheek and left so he could sleep. She was about to pick up her bag and leave for Bruce's apartment as usual, but then she realized that Cary was at home. There was nothing, NOTHING in the world that would have made her leave Bryan alone with him anymore. So instead, she grabbed a phone and called him.

Bruce was finishing his morning coffee and waiting for Brianna to come when his phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.

"_Bruce? It's me, Bryan-ah._"

"Ah, morning, girl. Whazzup?"

"_Bruce, I can't come today. It's Bryan, he... he's sick. And Cary's here, I can't leave him here with that bastard._"

Brianna's harsh language caught Bruce's attention.

"You alright, girl? You sound a bit strange..." he said.

A silence.

"Hello?"

"_Yes, Bruce. I am fine. I just can't come today. I will make it up to you someday._"

Feeling something was definitely off, Bruce became nervous. Not only Brianna's crude language caught his attention, but the note of her voice. Her voice was deeper than usual... even rougher someway. Something had definitely happened.

"Uh, listen, Brianna."

"_Bryan-ah_", Brianna corrected.

"Right, Bryan-ah. Look, don't stress yourself about it. Your brudda needs you more now than I do, besides, I've taught you everything I can so we're pretty even now, aren't we?"

"_Yeah, we are. Thank you, Bruce._"

"Don't mention it, girl. Now go and make your brudda feel better, you dig?"

"_I'll do that. Bye._"

Brianna hung up. Bruce put his phone away and sank deep into his thoughts. He was sure that something had happened to Brianna, but he wasn't sure should he interfere or not. Perhaps it would be wise of him to stay out of it.

To be continued...


	4. Assassinating Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 4: Assassinating Fury

Cary dug out a wrap of bucks from his wallet.

"You in?"

A guy with dark shades on his face took the wrap and counted. Adequate.

"I'm in. What do I need to do?"

Cary gave him a photograph. "Dispose them."

The guy looked at the photo. There was a beautiful, young brunette with her white-haired little-brother in the picture, sitting on same bunk. They were both young, the girl must have been in her 17's and the boy was definitely less than ten years old.

"You sure?" the guy inquired.

"The girl's a psychopath, and the boy just tags along", Cary replied. "It will be better if they are both killed off. One won't live without another."

The guy nodded. "Piece of cake."

----------------------------------------------------------

Bryan's illness had lasted for days, and it was weakening him gradually. Brianna was getting extremely worried. Especially when they began to run out of groceries. It was still out of question to leave Bryan alone with Cary, but Brianna had to leave the house.

She swiftly walked into her and Bryan's room and shook her brother awoke. "Bryan?" she whispered. "Bryan, you awake?"

Bryan opened his eyes as a respond.

"I'm sorry that I have to drag you up, bro, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with me now."

"What is it?" Bryan asked.

"We'll just pay a visit to the store nearby. Come on, it won't take long, but I can't leave you here alone with him. Or are you willing to stay here?"

Bryan sat up with a sharp "No!"

Brianna smiled and caressed his hair. "Thought so. Now go on, dress up."

The boy dressed up quite quickly and in no time they had left the house. Cary was pretending to have passed out on the sofa again, but as he heard their front door being shut, he sat up and grabbed a phone. After a while, he informed that the targets were on the move and "ready to be dealt with."

After counting every cent in her usage, Brianna noted she had skimped in paying enough to afford buying a lollipop to Bryan. After all, he could use the extra energy. They were walking home hand-in-hand from the mini-market, Bryan concentrated only on the lollipop while Brianna's gaze wandered around. She had a feeling they were being followed – she just couldn't say who was following. The feeling of danger was very intense. Finally she grabbed Bryan by his arm and led him into an alley.

"What is it, sis?" Bryan inquired. Brianna replied with a quick "Shh!"

And true. After a moment, the man with dark shades entered the alley. But Brianna and Bryan were nowhere to be seen. Brianna had hid her brother behind a dumpster and decided to take the guy head-on. Feeling confident and strong, she stepped up into the arena. Sensing her presence, the guy quickly pulled out a knife from his pocket and threw it at Brianna – who dodged it with ease. This, if anything, freaked the guy out. He subdued his panic, even though Brianna's psychopathic eyes laid a murderous gaze at him.

"Brianna Grendel..." the guy snickered.

"Who the hell are you?" Brianna growled.

Instead of replying, the guy pulled out another knife and threw it at her. With an open palm Brianna slammed the knife to the side. It however managed to make a cut into her hand, but she left it unnoticed. The guy had one more knife to throw, and he aimed straight at Brianna's head. The girl caught the knife midair, yet got more cuts into her hands. She turned the knife around and threw it back at him. The knife hit his stomach, but Brianna was able to hear an unusual, metallic "thud!" from the guy. The guy just pulled the knife out and took off his jacket, revealing a bullet-proof vest. Brianna stood in her battle stance, getting ready for everything.

Bryan peeked from behind the dumpster. The incident had revealed a whole new side of his sister; he had never seen her that aggressive and brave. He watched as the assassin lunged at Brianna, trying to dig the knife into her chest. Brianna crouched quickly and swept his legs off with a ring-like movement with her left leg. The assassin fell down on his back and barely dodged Brianna's incoming heel drop. Wasting no time, Brianna threw a left-right punch at his stomach and struck his chest hard with her right knee. The assassin flew backwards a few metres, accomppanied by Brianna's manical laughter. As the guy attempted standing up, Brianna pulled him up and twisted his right elbow into a painful and tight hand-lock. She laughed.

"Some super-assassin you are, huh!" she mocked. "Who sent you?"

The assassin didn't reply.

"Who sent you?" Brianna growled and twisted his arm more. The assassin sunk his left elbow into Brianna's stomach, forcing her to let go and drop on her knees. Being well aware of Brianna's fighting skill and not willing to get a second whoop-up, the assasin fled without a trace. After being sure that she wouldn't throw up, Brianna straightened her back carefully. "Pesky little chicken-shit..." she muttered and stood up. "Bryan!"

The boy raced back to his sister and wrapped his hands around her waist. Brianna was about to caress the boy's hair again, but felt a sudden pain in her palms even during the slightest movements. Only now she noted the deep cuts in her hands, and she wondered how she could have left cuts like that unnoticed.

"Sis, you're bleeding!" Bryan cried out. Even though Brianna felt as if her hands were burning, she refused to show the pain in front of Bryan. "It's just a scratch, brother", she said. "Nothing serious. Now let's go home before that creep comes back."

The rest of the journey was silent. Even though now both of the siblings were cautious, there were no further signs of the assassin. Back at home Brianna tucked Bryan back into the bed and after putting the groceries where they belonged to, she sat down at a table to check her wounds. She had a massive bruise in her abs from the assassin's elbow, her palms were shattered but there seemed to be no further injuries. Brianna wrapped bandages around her palms and kept a bag of ice on her stomach for a while to subdue the pain, still wondering her behaviour in the battle. She stood up and went to their living room, and noting that Cary had left the sofa she laid down onto it. Her mind wandered back into the fight; all of sudden she had lost every bit of fear and inconfidence, she had almost forgotten her whole existence when the assassin began throwing the knives at her. It was then, when she, too, began to question her own sanity.

She sat up, still holding the bag of ice on her stomach. Who could have sent the assassin after them? He couldn't have been just a plain old mugger; he had too advanced tools for a simple mugging; the knives were military knives and you don't find bulletproof vests from a local hardware store. And even though Brianna had gotten the best of him, he had been no amateur.

Suddenly, Brianna heard a soft thud from the next room. It was actually her parents' bedroom, so she figured Cary had turned over in his sleep and fallen off the bed again. For a moment she pondered if the assassin was sent by Cary himself. Did he really want to get rid of them that badly? Was he seriously ready to hire an assassin to kill her and Bryan? But even if he was, how could he afford one?

As Brianna was lying on the sofa with closed eyes and the ice on her stomach, Cary stumbled into the living room in his underwear. Brianna sensed this, but didn't react. She heard and felt Cary's heavy footsteps approaching the sofa.

"Heeeyyy..."! He hollered. He was still drunk. "That's my place! Get out!"

Brianna didn't react.

"I said get OUT!" Cary roared and lifted his hand to strike again. Without opening her eyes, Brianna parried his puny punch and continued lounging. "You smell bad", she simply said. Cary tried to hit again, but Brianna parried once more.

"Go take a shower", she suggested.

"Grr... I'll throw YOU into a shower if you don't...!"

Cary had no chance to finish up his sentence when Brianna stood up from the sofa, laying her insane eyes on him again. "Don't you dare to threaten me!" she cried out. "I just dealt with an assassin, you think you'd offer me a greater challenge, old man?"

Cary grinned with rage. "An assassin? Bullshit, you're not even worth an assassin's bullet! You must have beaten up a common civilian, like the psycho you are!"

"Enough! Shut your mouth or I'll make it swell shut!"

Their arguing had woken Bryan up. He had sneaked behind the door of his and Brianna's room and listened at them. He was too scared to look at what was going on, but he heard them more than well enough. Knowing of his sister's injuries, he hoped with all his heart there wouldn't be a fight between them two now. He peeked from the keyhole of the door, hoping to be left unnoticed.

"Common civilians don't come equipped triple military knives and a vest that could take a Magnum shot from a close distance!" Brianna growled at Cary. "Nor do they come equipped with commando martial arts. And yes, even if I was a psycho, it is all because of you!"

"Don't you dare to blame me for your insanity, you cheap whore!"

"It was YOU who broke a beer bottle into my head, asshole!" Brianna shrieked as she shoved Cary backwards. "You left me dying onto the floor! You cold-blooded murderer! And now that you realized you're not man enough to kill me, you hired an assassin to deal with me and Bryan!"

"Call a shrink, Brianna!" Cary cried out . "You're lost your mind!"

"Listen now, old man – if you just dare and lay a finger on Bryan anymore, I'mma hang you by your balls into the minute hand of the clock of the elementary school!"

Now that Brianna's attention was somewhere else than in guarding or parrying, Cary sank his fist straight into the bruise that Brianna had in her stomach. She cried out her pain, and before she recovered, Cary struck her down with his elbow. Brianna fell down hard onto the floor, hitting her head again as she went.

"Bryan-ah!" Bryan cried out and threw the door of their room open. He crouched down at his sister and lifted her head into his arms. "Leave her alone!" he shouted to Cary, who grabbed him by his hair and threw him aside. Brianna forced herself to regain consciousness at once, and she stood up on her shaky legs. "Like I said..." she growled, "If you lay your finger on him again... I'LL KILL YOU!"

With a manic shriek, she lunged at Cary. Even though he was drunk, he moved quite swiftly. He got out of her way quite easily and picked up a coal poker from a corner and swung it like a baseball bat. Brianna barely dodged the first swing, but the second hit her side and tore it open. The third swing hit her head and she fell onto the floor unconscious. Everything went dark in a second.

Moments later Brianna felt pain in her body. Her head, side and stomach were almost burning with it. And the thick smell of gasoline didn't make her feel any better. Voices faded in and out again, and the burning sensation began to spread all over her body. It was very hot. All of sudden, a clear voice of a young boy pierced her mind.

"Bryan-ah! Please! Wake up!"

Brianna opened her eyes, only to see their living room in flames. There was fire and smoke everywhere. Bryan was tied up, and he was lying near her. He was all over covered with bruises, and his eyes glittered with tears.

"Bryan-ah! Help!"

She tried to move, but only to realize she, too, was tied. Her hands were tied behind her back and her ankles were tied together, the same way as Bryan had been tied, too. She tried squirming away from her bondage, without any success. The smoke made breathing next to impossible, and it triggered another couching seizure in Bryan. One last squirm... nothing. Cary had tied the ropes too tight for Bryan and Brianna to break free.

To be continued...


	5. Furious Escape

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 5: Furious Escape

It was Brianna's idea of hell; heat, smoke, sweat. Her being tied up with her brother and left to die. A merciless coughing seizure tormented Bryan, making him inhale the poisonous smoke. Knowing there was no time to waste, Brianna pulled her knees as close to her chest as possible and reached down for her knife that she kept in her boot. At first she thought it was just another sign of insanity, to carry a knife with her, but felt now extremely thankful of her new habit. She flipped the blade of the knife out of its handle and began cutting the ropes from around her wrists. Concentrating fully on it, she finally managed to cut them. In no time she had cut the ropes around her ankles, followed shortly by the ropes that held Bryan. Brianna inserted the blade back into the handle and sunk it back into her boot. She lifted up Bryan in her arms and made a spurt towards the outdoor – that had been locked. She checked under the doormat for a spare key, which had been taken away. Feeling yet another spike of insanity in her mind, she backed down few meters from the door and ran. A meter before the door she leapt into the air and kicked the door open with her left leg, landing softly on the right leg, still holding Bryan in her arms.

Just as she thought she made it, she heard a gunshot. That instant, a window was shattered next to her. "Dammit!" she heard someone curse. Looking at the direction of the voice, Brianna saw the same assassin that had attempted killing her and Bryan before. She let Bryan down and pulled the knife from her boot again. "Sis, be careful!" Bryan whispered to her.

"Don't worry, bro", Brianna assured him. "He's going down."

The assassin came closer, and so did Brianna. "You walking up to a gun? You insane?" the assassin mocked.

"Maybe", Brianna replied. But seeing that she was close enough, she sent the gun flying through the air with a powerful spin kick. While on the swing, she managed to cut the assassin's face twice before he grabbed her by her wrist and twisted the knife off her hand. Still, there were two neat scars on his face in the shape of an X. Infuriated by this, he sent Brianna flying through the air with a powerful kick to her back. He lunged at her, but she merely turned her back and struck with her elbows, first right, then left, and then she sunk a serious Mach Breaker punch into the assassin's spleen, sending him hard on the ground. And before he had a chance to get up, Bryan picked up a large rock from the ground and threw it hard at his head, KO'ing him. Brianna gave a warm smile to him, and he ran over the assassin as he came to her. But then another gun was cocked, and Brianna felt a pistol nose on the side of her head. It was Cary, no else.

"This is it, Brianna", he said. "You can kiss your pitiful life goodbye."

Before he pulled the trigger, he felt a sharp pain in his shin as Bryan kicked him hard and fast. Realizing her chance, Brianna dug her right fist into Cary's stomach. With pure power, she lifted him up from the ground with only her fist, and she slammed him hard on the ground on his back, accompanying the strike with a manical laughter. As Cary hit the ground, Brianna mounted him and began punching his face with pure rage. "DIE!" she shrieked. She kept punching until Cary ceased to move. She prepared to deliver the final blow when she suddenly heard police sirens approaching from the distance. "Bryan-ah! Cops!" Bryan exclaimed. Instead of giving the final blow, Brianna quickly searched Cary's pockets, finding everything insignificant, plus his wallet and car keys. "Quick, we're getting outta here!" she cried out as she opened the car doors and helped Bryan inside the old Chevrolet Fleetside pickup. They drove away only few seconds before the police arrived to the scene.

Some time later, Bryan pulled his head back from the door window. "No one's following", he said. Brianna took a deep breath of relief. "That's great. That's really great!"

But Bryan didn't seem very happy.

"Bryan... what is it?" Brianna asked.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're getting out of town", Brianna explained briefly. "And we have to avoid cops right now, they might be too interested in what happened back there."

Bryan was about to say, "I want to go home", but then it occurred to him that there was no home anymore. Their home was burnt by the flames that Cary lit in order to kill him and Brianna. It was all gone. Everything was gone. He had nothing left... except Brianna.

He laid down onto the car's sofa and laid his head upon Brianna's tigh. He felt like crying, but he didn't want to. Yet he couldn't stop his tears running down his face and landing onto Brianna's leg. Noticing this, Brianna laid her hand upon his shoulder. "There, there, Bryan..." she spoke softly. "Everything's gonna be alright, I promise. We'll stop by the nearest motel and stay the night there, okay?"

Bryan nodded and closed his eyes.

Brianna drove well into the night before she felt they were far enough from Queens. She stopped at the first motel that was open, pulled Bryan into her arms again and went to the reception. There was an old man at the reception, and he smiled warmly at Brianna. She was relieved to see a friendly face for change.

"Good evening, miss", he said.

"Evening, sir," Brianna replied. "I'd like to have your cheapest room for tonight."

The man looked at the reservation list. "Yes, there is a room available", he said. "One bed, and a bathroom, but nothing else."

"That'll do just fine", Brianna nodded. "How much is it?"

"That'd be 60$."

Brianna checked Cary's wallet that she stole, and noted it was half-empty. No credit cards (not that she'd be able to use them now, though), and only 35 bucks.

"I... I have only 35 bucks", Brianna said. "Will that do?"

The receptionist shook his head. Brianna sighed.

"Please, sir..." she said. "My brother is ill. He needs rest. Is there any other way I can pay? I'm not afraid of working, you know."

The old man considered her offer. Finally he agreed, and led Brianna to the room. She tucked Bryan into a bed and then followed the old man into the motel kitchen, which was filled with dirty dishes all the way to the ceiling.

After a few hours of cleaning the dishes, Brianna felt extremely tired even though she was hardly cleaned half of the dishes. Still, she continued all the way until there were no dirty dishes left. She sighed again and took a look at her wrist watch; 4:45 AM. She'd still have few hours of sleep before she'd have to get back on the run again.

The old man came into the kitchen and looked at the job well done. "You've done well, young lady", he said. "This kitchen hasn't been this clean since I bought this motel."

He took a roll of greenbacks from his pocket and gave them to Brianna. "You did so good work that I feel I just have to pay you a little extra. Now go get some sleep, you look exhausted."

"Thank you, sir," Brianna smiled and was about to leave, but the old man hollered her back. "Almost forgot", he said. "I need to get your name onto the guest list, but I never caught it. What was your name again?"

A silence.

"Miss?"

Brianna looked at the old man. "Fury", she finally said. "Bryan-ah Fury."

As Brianna got into the room, Bryan was still sleeping on the bed where she had tucked him. She once again gave a soft kiss into his cheek and kicked off the boots from her feet. She laid down onto a sofa that was near the bed and fell asleep quicker than ever before. But just as she fell asleep, Bryan woke up. Seeing his sister on the sofa, he got off the bed and dragged the willow with him. He threw it over Brianna and laid down next to her, under the same willow. Brianna welcomed her in her sleep, allowing Bryan once again snuggle against her. She didn't need any children's psychologist to tell that the day had made a radical change in his life and times wouldn't get any easier on him, at least as long as they were on the run. But during those brief, silent moments, Brianna was more than happy to give Bryan all the love and support he might need.

The next morning kept a hold of a new hope within it. The sky was cloudless and the sun shined warmly. Even Bryan was feeling way better than the past few days. The motel keeper offered him and Brianna a free breakfast, since they were the only customers at the motel at the time. At the breakfast, Brianna studied a map she had found from their room. She was trying to figure where she should be headed. She couldn't go over the border; they had no ID with them. Besides, she was sure that they were on the wanted list – Cary would definitely want his pickup back. And she couldn't even think of driving all the way to the west coast, she didn't even have a driver's license.

Bryan finished up his orange juice and let out a slight belch. "You little pig..." Brianna commented, rising her sight from the map to Bryan. He laughed – something Brianna was very glad to hear again. She smiled and turned her attention to the map again. Where on earth they could escape?

"So, where are we going next?" Bryan inquired and took a big bite out of his toast. Brianna, keeping her attention on the map, planned all possible routes inside her head when suddenly she got an idea. A good one, she hoped.

"Say, bro, how would you like Detroit?" she asked.

"Never been there", Bryan replied with the toast still in his mouth. But the way Brianna saw things, Detroit was far enough from where they left, and if they got rid of the pickup as soon as they could get a new car, their risk of being involved with the local authorities would go down significantly. "It's perfect..." Brianna muttered. She checked the route there and burnt it into her memory.

As the siblings were leaving, the motel owner came to say goodbye. "Have a good trip, miss Fury!" he hollered as Brianna and Bryan stepped into the pickup. Brianna waved goodbye and hit the road. "Sis, why did he call you Fury?" Bryan inquired. Brianna smirked.

"Because that is what I am", she replied. "Pure fury."

"Oooh, I wanna be too!" Bryan cheered. "Can I? Can I!"

"'Course", Brianna replied as she took a turn to the interstate. "Bryan Fury... sounds cool to me."

Bryan Fury... he thought about his new name, with a smile on his face. Along with a new name, he could be able to start a whole new life in Detroit with Brianna. It was almost as if he could erase his whole past seven years in a one, clean sweep. There wouldn't be anything left of his pitiful past in Detroit, and most importantly, Cary wouldn't be there. Shit, there would be no familiar faces at all. Only new ones, that knew nothing of him. A fresh, clean start. And as long as Brianna would be there, he would have nothing to be afraid of.

Bryan looked at his sister as she drove along the interstate. He would always remember her like that; the concentrated eyes, the determined and fearless appearance. She wasn't the most beautiful woman she had seen, but she was strong and stood on her own two legs. And the way she had handled the assassin – Bryan would never forget that Brianna caught knives mid-air for him. Brianna was everything he wanted to be. It was then, on that interstate, when Bryan decided that one day he would be just like her; strong, independent, and he would let no one step on his toes.

Some day he'd be just like her; the most powerful being in the universe.

He'd destroy everyone who would stand in his way.

And he'd protect the one who would be the dearest to him.

Thinking about his future, Bryan once again laid his head upon Brianna's leg. He felt her hand caressing his hair a few times before grabbing the steering wheel once again. Soon he drifted into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of himself as a grown-up man with two tribal tattoos on his neck.

To be continued...

Replies to the comments:

**LeiZ**: Thank you! But as you might have noticed, Brianna is far from perfect – even though she acts kindly towards Bryan and protects him, she tends to be very aggressive and violent towards many other people. Mostly due to the brain damage Cary caused her.


	6. Kickass Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

All the knowledge of Detroit I have are from 8 Mile and Robocop – meaning I know nothing about it. So all the places mentioned here are either from 8 Mile (© Universal Studios, Dreamworks), or from Robocop (© Orion Pictures) or from my head.

(Of course, if someone's willing to tell me something about Detroit I'm willing to listen.)

Chapter 6: Kick-ass Fury

"YAAAAAAAAAWN."

Brianna stretched out and tried to find a more comfortable place to her numb back. Bryan had been asleep for hours right next to her, his head still lying on her thigh. She checked her wrist watch: 3:36 AM. And she had driven all night. It was no wonder her lids felt like lead, or at least as heavy as lead.

She aimed all the fans in the dashboard towards herself and set them to blow cold air at her face. Even knowing that Bryan was still a little sick, she decided to keep it this way for a few minutes. After feeling a bit more refreshed, she set the temperature back to normal and set the fans back to their normal positions.

Then, the dawn. The first rays of the sun reached Brianna's tired eyes and swept away the dream from her face. The sight brought a smile on Brianna's lips; soon they'd reach Detroit, and then she could finally sleep, too. But still she wondered if the authorities were after them. Not that she had spotted any, which was only a good thing, because she had a feeling that even though Cary wouldn't care if they ran off, but he'd be sure to want his car back.

Brianna switched on the car radio, keeping the volume low. Nothing but SQUEEEEEzing. Brianna tried to find the tuning buttons, but soon came to conclusion it was not an AM-radio after all. It turned out to be a shortwave radio. And knowing full well that the road she drove on was also favored by the truck drivers who kept each other informed about the traffic and even about police business, Brianna switched to the truckers' channel. Who knows, perhaps they'd know something she didn't.

Soon, a conversation between two truckers caught her attention.

"So, uh, any sign of the escapees yet?"

"No, not yet. But when Cary was busted for burning his house, he told the cops his kids stole his wallet and his car. I think the cops actually began searching for the pickup."

"Really? Now that's something new. I've... wait a minute!"

A sudden silence. At the same time, a truck drove past Brianna.

"You know, I think I just saw the car."

"What car?"

"Cary's pickup. I think it was Brianna behind the wheel."

"What, seriously? Where they driving?"

"Interstate 90, heading west between Cleveland and Toledo. My guess is they're heading towards Michigan."

"You know, tell that to the cops and you'll get a nice reward."

Brianna switched off the radio. As soon as they'd be on the other side of lake Erie, she'd dump the car. A turn to the interstate 75 and they'd be home free.

-----------------------------------------

They came to a bridge that ran over a river with an exceptionally strong current. Brianna pulled over slightly before it.

"Why do we stop here?" Bryan inquired.

"We need to get rid of this car. We were spotted on our way here", Brianna explained.

They checked the car for anything useful, but after finding none they pushed the car over the cliff into the river. That was the most loud "splash" Bryan had heard.

"How're we gonna get to Detroit now, sis?"

"We hitchhike."

Bryan definition of 'hitchhiking' was slightly different from Brianna's. Whereas Bryan supposed to stick his thumb up and wait for a passer-by, Brianna took him to a café nearby. From there she spoke to various truck drivers, apparently pretending to be a hooker. A very expensive hooker; Bryan saw her turn down massive rolls of greenbacks. She was pretty close of crushing one trucker's wrist when he slapped her behind.

Finally she returned to Bryan, who had been sniffing the smell of fresh-baked toasts and coffee for a good while. "Sis, I'm hungry", he said, hardly aloud. Brianna gave him an encouraging smile and flipped a roll of greenbacks from her pocket. She was still a skillful pickpocket. They sat down at a table with an orange juice, a coffee and two toasts that were gone in no time. Brianna kept a close eye on one particular trucker. He had said he was on his way to New Detroit Stamping and Brianna figured that'd be their free ticket into Detroit.

After the guy left his spot at the table and returned to his truck, he was swiftly followed by Bryan and Brianna. Brianna helped Bryan to the back of the truck and leap onto it herself the moment she noted that the truck was on the move. They searched a safe spot in the middle of the metal junk going to the stamping and cuddled into each other.

Eight mile road.

Brianna and Bryan jumped off the truck, only to find themselves in the middle of Harlem – or at least something alike. No matter where they laid their eyes, there were only black people on sight. Bryan, who had lived all his life in the middle of white people, span like a spinning top when he tried to see all the people at the same time. Brianna, however, ceased moving – she realized what mistake she had done when she had decided to jump off the truck here. But noting Bryan's spinning, she grabbed him by his shoulders to stop him. "Stop staring, bro", she muttered. "They don't like being looked at."

"I've never seen so many blacks, sis. Where'd they all come from?"

"Hush now, bro..."

"But sis, why there's no white people around?"

"Silence, Bryan!"

A group of exceptionally mean-looking black youngsters approached those two. Brianna pulled Bryan as close to herself as possible, backing up as she went. And now that Bryan noted the approaching gang, he kept Brianna near himself automatically. The leader of the group stepped forward and looked at Brianna, who kept her sight on the ground and hands around Bryan.

"You gotta be a looong way from home, girl", he supposed and pulled out a knife. "You know, I figure you're lost. 'Cause no sane whitey would drag her ass all the way here. But since you're here..."

He circled the tip of the knife around her nipple. She didn't react, as if she hadn't been awake. Bryan looked up and saw that his sister had closer her eyes. What was she doing? What were those people up to? But most importantly, why Brianna didn't react?

But just as the leader placed the knife under her chin, Brianna quickly pushed Bryan out of her way and sent two quick and powerful punches into the leader's gut. Finishing her set with a powerful blow into his chest with her knee, the leader flew through the air away from them. But all the time, Brianna had kept her eyes closed.

It was then when the leader stood up from the ground, Brianna slashed her eyes open. She laid her insane, gray eyes on the leader and on the gang, that – now seeing her eyes well – thought twice about attacking. The leader, who wasn't from the smallest end, was blown five meters through air by Brianna's knee, and now on the second look she wasn't so weak-looking female they had first supposed; her thick arms stuck out from her tight, black t-shirt and her brown, snake-patterned pants weren't able to hide the muscles of her legs. Even her abs stuck out through the shirt.

She raised her arms towards the sky and let out a maniacal laughter.

A laughter Bryan would remember for the rest of his life.

A laughter he, too, made famous later on.

Brianna lowered her arms to her battle stance. One of the gang members lunged at her, but she struck him back with ease, using only one, single front kick. Few others pressed their lucks as well, with Brianna still striking them back. When the leader of the group attacked once more, Brianna grabbed him by his right wrist and twisted into a painful lock behind his back. Laughing yet once again, she mocked; "Some leader you are!"

She pushed him on the ground, into the nearest puddle she found. The leader, embarrassed for loosing to a girl, slowly stood up and backed away. Brianna reached out for Bryan, who came nearer and held her by her hand.

"News flash, motherfucker", Brianna snapped at the leader. "Don't mess with Fury – you'll only get your ass kicked."

Some hours later the sky ripped open and it began to rain hard. The whole area was even a messier slum area than the area Brianna and Bryan originally came. Homeless people, collapsed houses and gangstas roaming around and trying find shelter from the rain. Brianna and Bryan happened to come across an abandoned warehouse building which seemed convenient enough for them to spend the night. Bryan hopped onto her back and she climbed a ladder until she reached a broken window. She kicked the remaining pieces of glass away and climbed in, Bryan still on her back. The warehouse was surprisingly warm even though it must have been abandoned for years. They sought the warmest spot, and Brianna laid down onto her back. Bryan sat next to her for a while, but then he climbed on Brianna and laid his head down upon her chest. Brianna smiled and caressed his white hair. She had sometimes wondered why Bryan's hair was white, anyway. Cary was a dark blond, Brianna herself was dark brunette, as was their mother, too. Maybe it was some sort of gene mutation or something. Or they had different fathers. Or something. Brianna was too damn tried to think. Or care.

"Brianna?" Bryan whispered.

"Hmm?"

"What do we do now?"

"We get some sleep."

"What about in the morning?"

"I'll start looking for a job."

"What about me?"

Brianna opened her eyes gave a gentle snap on the tip of Bryan's nose. "You're going to school, silly."

Bryan rubbed his nose. "I don't wanna go to school."

"Sorry bro, no one's asking if you wanna go or not. You gotta go."

"Why? I can read and write already."

"Yeah. RIGHT."

"Honestly, sis!"

"Listen, bro – you go to school, then to university, study hard and get yourself a real work where you can earn more than you use, so you don't have to lead a same kind of life I do."

"But sis, I wanna be just like you."

"Hush now, bro. Sis is tired."

The final comment made Bryan shut up by himself. He, too, began to feel tired, and it didn't take long before he fell asleep on top of his sister.

To be continued...


	7. Fury Redeemed

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 7: Fury Redeemed

Brianna didn't spend too much time when she located the nearest elementary school and sent Bryan there. The boy, however, wasn't too pleased to find out the majority of the school's pupils were black. There were only one or two white boys besides him, and they didn't seem to be enjoying themselves. Noting this, Bryan literally jumped on Brianna; he wrapped his hands around her neck and tucked his legs around her waist.

"I don't wanna go there!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, Bryan! Don't be such a crybaby."

"But I don't wanna go there! They're all black!"

"Don't be a racist, either."

Brianna put Bryan back on the ground. "Look, I won't be gone long, you hear?" she said. "I'll come get you when the school day's over. I promise. Then we'll do something fun together. You dig?"

Bryan nodded hesitantly. He felt he had no other choice but to enter what looked like a hell to him. He wasn't too far off. He was put into one of the smallest classes in the school, where there were only black people. Bryan stood out of the crowd like a soldier in hippies' party. There were three mean-looking boys that kept staring at him, and Bryan didn't have to guess twice what kind of treatment he'd get when the class would be over.

On the first break Bryan sat down under a birch tree that grew on the school's yard. He was watching the kids playing soccer on the football field when he felt he was being stared again. He stood up and looked over, seeing the same mean-looking bunch approaching him. It was the most obvious prologue of a fight he had ever experienced.

"What up, bitch?" the leader of the bunch grinned. "We hear you're the new guy here, so we thought we'd give you a demonstration of the local hospitality towards whites."

"I've already got one", Bryan replied. "You dummies can't fight."

"What was that?"

"You heard me! Dummy! A bunch of you niggers picked at fight at me and my sis last night, and lost to us 900'n' nothin'."

Bryan was too concentrated to the leader of the group he had failed to note that one of the group members had snuck up behind him and now grabbed him from behind. He was quite big; Bryan wasn't able to break free from his grip, not to mention to move at all. The leader began punching his stomach and face as hard as he could. Bryan actually felt his bones getting crushed, his nose beginning to bleed and bruises forming onto his skin. As the leader began to get bored, he sank his knee hard into Bryan's stomach. As the guy finally let go of Bryan, he bent over and threw up everything he had left of his breakfast. The leader threw one last kick at his head and left Bryan lying on the ground. He tried to breathe, but managed only to cough. He heard the bell ring in the distance and the pupils running to their classes. He, too, tried standing up but the leader struck him right back on the ground. Without saying a word, the bunch left Bryan alone and disappeared from sight.

A depressing silence landed upon the yard. The only thing Bryan heard was his heavy breathing that was interrupted by a sudden cough every now and then. He felt cold. He wanted to stand up, or move, but every single move seemed to hurt too much. He wondered if he'd freeze to death lying there. It didn't seem a bad idea.

Suddenly he heard a bird singing in the birch that towered next to him. The sound was very familiar, something he had been listening to many times. He forced himself to look up, and he was surprised to see a mockingbird singing on the lowest branch of the tree. It kept singing the same way as Mrs. Mockingbird sang every time Bryan had climbed into the tree to hide from Cary. The singing reminded Bryan of Brianna, and of all the good times they had spent together. It even reminded him of the lullaby she had sung to him when he was sick.

Feeling a new doze of courage inside him, Bryan ignored the pain he felt and stood up from the ground. He dragged himself out of school, and noted that the mockingbird was now sitting on a street lamp couple ten meters away from him. Guided only by the mockingbird and a silent voice in his heart, Bryan slowly made his way downtown. And when he stopped to catch his breath and to gather a little more strength to withstand the pain, he saw Brianna walking out of an office down the street. She quickly looked through a folder she was given before she saw him. Flipping the folder into a bag she was carrying, she ran down the street to her brother. "Bryan, what are you doing here?" she asked, even though she realized the stupidity of her question the instant Bryan stood out of the shadow he was standing; his clothes were dirty with mud, his nose was bleeding and he was all over covered with bruises. Even his cheek had swollen. Without speaking anymore, Brianna lifted up Bryan into her arms and held him near. Bryan cuddled her, feeling much better even though the pain had gone nowhere. Brianna began walking away from downtown, but she stopped as she saw the mockingbird flying through the air. She was certain it was a sign.

Brianna had managed to get herself a job as a bike messenger in a D-Race called company. Her job was to deliver post packages around the area she was living, and she had even managed to bargain a small apartment for her and Bryan. She carried Bryan all the way from downtown to there, locking the front door behind her as she went inside. The apartment had been empty for ages; there was dust everywhere, windows were dirty, and no wonder it was cheap – the sunlight hardly reached the house.

Brianna felt like home immediately.

The apartment was sold unfurnished; only the main essentials came along – a fridge, a restroom and a shower – but whaddayanow, the previous owner had left a TV and a sofa behind him. Brianna laid Bryan down onto the sofa and sat down near him. He laid his head on Brianna's leg again, and wasn't surprised as he felt Brianna's fingers running through his hair again. After a silence, Brianna looked at her brother.

"What happened, bro?"

"… I fell."

"You fell?"

"I fell."

"Since when a fall has caused punch-marks?"

Sometimes Bryan forgot that Brianna was a warrior; she knew what a guy looked like after a serious beat up and she knew what a guy would look like after falling. But, to be honest, Bryan didn't know what happened. He didn't know why he was beaten. He knew that the guys had something against him, but he had no idea whatsoever what it was. He was too young to understand what the whole fight had been about. Brianna, however, knew more than well why he was beaten up. She felt unsure about speaking such things in front of Bryan, but she knew she had to tell him why he was beaten.

"The black people beat you up?" she asked. Bryan nodded. A tear fell down his cheek onto Brianna's leg.

"Did they say why?"

The boy shook his head, trying to resist crying to no avail.

"It's because we're different. That is the only reason they have, and it is the only reason they need."

Bryan didn't understand. Why would someone beat someone else up for being different? Is that a good reason? Did it mean he, too, could beat people who differ from him? But as he thought about it, he realized that everyone was different from one another. Could everyone beat anyone up for being different?

His head began to ache for such philosophical thinking.

"Don't even try to understand why, bro", Brianna whispered. "There is no way you can understand it yet. Just promise me one thing – don't let it happen again. Don't let anyone push you around or walk over your feet, you hear?"

She massaged gently a painful-looking bruise on Bryan's arm. It consoled more than hurt.

"But what if they beat me up again?"

Brianna stood up from the sofa and walked in front of a window. She was enraged – for Bryan. His innocence and sincerity only made her rage worse. He was beaten up in bright daylight for a reason he didn't understand, and by kids around the same age as he! That was even worse than the treatment Cary gave him. After she felt she could speak normally again, she turned to look at Bryan. "They won't", she said. "If they try to do it one more time… you will be ready."

From that day forward, Brianna began teaching Bryan kickboxing. She featured all the sadistic traits she had developed herself; the traits had even become worse due her brain damage. Bryan learnt quickly; he memorized every lock, twist, punch and kick Brianna taught him, and he trained harder than any other kid of his age.

He skipped school for two weeks, just to train. Brianna worked during daytime, and Bryan rested and did muscle-training then. During the evening, it was technique training. Bryan felt his confidence boost up, as well as his physical strength. After two weeks of intensive muscle and technique training, Bryan felt ready to make a memorable come-back.

He would never-ever be pushed around anymore. Not by anyone.

To be continued...


	8. Fury's Allies

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 8: Fury's Allies

It begun like any other day. The sun rose up, stars faded – Brianna was always up on the apartment's roof to see it. Even though she wasn't keen on sunlight, she enjoyed watching it set at night and rise in the morning. Bryan was sleeping on the sofa, under Brianna's olive-colored M-65 field jacket. Brianna knew she'd have to wake him up soon, but day by day it was always harder and harder thing to do – not because Bryan would have refused to get up, but just for once Brianna would have loved to let him dream his dreams till the end. Brianna herself didn't need much sleep, if at all. She thought it was because of the brain damage she suffered when Cary struck his beer bottle into her head.

"It could have been Bryan," she whispered in her mind. "Cary would have killed Bryan easily. He hated Bryan more than he hated me. But instead of Bryan, he struck me. I was meant to take the strike for Bryan. It's as if... I am meant to sacrifice myself for Bryan if I must."

Brianna stood up and headed into the living room, where Bryan was sleeping peacefully. She ran her fingers through Bryan's hair and gave a gentle kiss into his forehead.

"Bryan must be meant for something special," she supposed. "Something important. That's why I was born before him and that's why I've managed to take care of him. I have to ensure his survival at any cost. It is what I was born for. To be my brother's bodyguard, and to make sure he survives anything that comes on his way."

She shook him gently to wake him from his dream. Bryan's calm, deep breathing ceased for a split second, but as his eyes met with Brianna's, he calmed down and replied to her warm smile. With one, swift pull, he pulled Brianna's jacket over his head and hid himself, as a childish prank. Brianna laughed – her laughter sounded like that of faeries and angels – and grabbed the whole pack from the sofa into her arms. Bryan was stuck in her jacket; he managed to open up Brianna's grip from its collar enough to let fresh air pour in. He laughed, too. Unlike many other boys in his age, he had avoided the typical defiance that followed as children grew up. Never-ever had he even thought about defying Brianna; he had pondered about their current situation and their past, and he had come into a conclusion that everything she had done, she did it for his sake. Understanding this, his love towards his sister grew wildly.

"Yo, sleepyhead!" Brianna hollered into the jacket. "You're gonna be late from school."

Brianna let Bryan out of the jacket. He landed onto his feet like a cat; Brianna's training had made him strong in every meaning of the word. He watched Brianna wearing her jacket, and her golden medallion shone bright against her black t-shirt. She had worn it as long as Bryan was able to remember; sometimes he thought she was born with it. The medallion wasn't very big; about a square-inch, and there was a carving of a striking snake on it. The snake's eyes were made of two blue-gray'ish stones – stones that held exactly the same color as Bryan's eyes, as Brianna had once pointed out – and it hung from a leather slice that was tied loosely around Brianna's neck. Bryan had always adored the medallion, just about as much as he had adored snakes as well. Especially pit vipers. They were almost as fast and deadly as Brianna was.

Bryan combed his hair quickly with his fingers and followed Brianna all the way to the school. Brianna had promised to speak with the headmaster, but he knew better than to expect a peaceful negotiation between the headmaster and Brianna. The headmaster had turned out to be quite a racist himself, whereas Brianna was ready to go at incredible lengths when it came to defending her brother.

"If this shit happens again, I swear the only one able to identify those sons of bitches is their dentist!" Bryan heard Brianna shriek at the headmaster. "Bryan's done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment from you! I'm tellin' ya, he won't stand put the next time those bastards try to beat him up!"

"There are over 150 pupils in this school, miss Fury," the headmaster replied, with a politeness faker than a psychic with a phone ID. "And less than ten teachers. We can't look after every kid. Kids fight always, there's nothing unusual in it."

"The kids don't gather in a ring, nail down their victim and beat him near death. Only criminal gangs operate in such manner."

"Are you accusing the kids of illegal actions, miss Fury?"

"It ain't legal to beat anyone!"

The headmaster stood up from his chair and walked too close to Brianna.

"Then what do you want me to do? Arrange a cop cavalry to protect your child? You wiggas think you can order around anyone you come across. I don't give a shit if the boys waste your son in the bright daylight. Now get out of my office."

Like a lightning Brianna shoved the headmaster off-balance and tackled him onto the wall. She squeezed his throat towards the wall with her arm and brought her psychopathic face less than inch away from his face.

"Three news flashes, little faggot...!" she spat, hardly subduing her wrath. "FIRSTLY – Bryan is not my son, he is my brother, thus I will NOT take responsibility of his actions if he's provoked or threatened. SECONDLY – you niggas think you can boss around any minor population of your area. Be it white, black or green for all I care, we all have the same rights. THIRDLY – you think ANYONE would give a shit if I wasted your fat ass right here, right now?"

Bryan peeked from behind the headmaster's door. He was kind of used to see Brianna acting violently, but he felt uneasy whenever she was enraged. Not because he would've been afraid of her venting her hatred into him, but rather, he felt uneasy because Brianna **didn't** vent her hatred to him. No matter how pissed off, mad or depressed, she always smiled at him as if she had no worries at all. Bryan knew her smile was a bald-ass lie.

Brianna smashed the headmaster onto the floor and left. There were couple of other pupils picking on Bryan down the hallway, making Brianna stop to observe. A smile crept onto her lips – Bryan's reaction to the pupils made her proud. He completely ignored them. Bryan leaned on the wall and picked his fingernails. Suddenly one of the pupils grabbed Bryan by his collar and smashed him against another wall. Bryan, without any feelings, dug his right fist into the guy's gut. While the guy was stunned, Bryan gave him a right uppercut into his jaw and finished his Chains of Misery with a left hook. The guy dropped the instant. Brianna smiled with pride – the boy had learned to defend himself.

Noticing his sister's arrival, Bryan lowed down his hands as if to show the fight was over. The rest of the pupils noted Brianna as well, and couple of them literally freaked out. Their screaming must have carried out all the way to the other side of the 8 Mile, for none of them had ever seen a white woman like her; Brianna's skin was very close to literally white tone, yet her pale blue eyes were surrounded by dead-looking skin that was much darker than rest of her face. What stood out the most though, was the massive size of her muscles. Every muscle and ounce of strength was earned with sweat and tears, never had Brianna laid a finger on steroids, speak of any other drugs that would mess up her mind more than it already was. For some reason she had been able to tell herself she was literally a psychopath – she knew her mentality was unstable and her behavior rather violent -, thus she did everything she afforded to remain calm. She would never-ever forgive herself if she mistreated Bryan.

Like an ice queen Brianna walked down the hall to Bryan, ignoring the rest of the brats completely. "Take it easy, bro," she said and laid her hand over the boy's shoulder. "Don't kill everyone, you dig?"

"Not everyone, promise," Bryan assured with a wicked smile.

Brianna smiled and took off, since she was already late from work. Later the day Bryan was sitting under a tree yet once more, when he felt four other pupils approaching him. He stood up and turned to look, seeing three afro-American boys and one white boy coming at his way. They seemed not to have anything vicious in mind. Bryan looked closer; one of the dark boys was over-weighed and tall, the second one was thin-built and wore glasses, the third one was built normal and he had dreadlocks hanging from his head. The white boy wasn't small-built, but seemed rather dim. Nevertheless, he was certainly part of the gang.

"Hey, you the new kid, dawg?" the boy with dreadlocks inquired.

Bryan nodded hesitantly.

"What's your name, anyway?"

"... Bryan."

"Great to meet ya, Bryan," the boy said and quickly shook hands with him, in a certain gangsta manner. "My name's Daniel, and here are Jonathan-"

The thin-built boy nodded.

"John-"

The big boy nodded.

"...and Adam."

The white boy nodded eagerly. "We hear you gave Don Doe a real whoop-up earlier today," he said, with fanatical adoring in his eyes. "I mean wow, man, how did you beat that giant?"

"...giant?" Bryan wondered, straightening his back without noting it. The gang noted the instant that Bryan, too, was tall for being as young as seven. Daniel nodded, agreeing with Adam.

"You aren't too small yourself, either, dawg," he laughed. "I tell ya what. We got some new toy cars the other day, and we got five of them. We were playing there by the dirt, but the fifth car hasn't got a driver. Would you like to come race with us, Bryan?"

For the first time in a long time, Bryan smiled to someone other than Brianna: "You got it!"

When the day was over, Bryan ran home from school. He was bursting with excitement to tell Brianna about the friends he had just made, about the car race they had and about everything that had happened that day. Brianna would come home from work about the same time as he would, though it took her a while to walk from downtown. She had had a tough day – even though she was well-built and had enormous strength and power, she wasn't used to riding a bicycle, mainly because she never had had one. She learned quickly to ride one, but she was tired every day she came back home.

But no matter how tired she was, she would never turn down her brother.

Brianna laid down onto the sofa and sighed. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard running steps approaching her. "Sis! Sis!" Bryan's clear voice reached her, and not many seconds after Bryan hopped onto her. "Guess what happened today!"

"Something happy, I assume," Brianna smiled, hiding her tiredness.

"I met these four nice guys, Daniel, Jonathan, John and Adam, and we played car race together! They came to ask me to join their race when I was sitting under a tree one break..."

Bryan kept babbling, sparkling with joy. Normally parents just pretended to be listening to their youngsters, giving the rhetorical "Yes, dear" or "That's nice, dear" every minute and a half. But not Brianna – she listened with honesty, absorbing and studying every word Bryan spoke. She chased away her sleep, just to listen to him. It wouldn't matter what Bryan talked about, Brianna was always wanting to listen, no matter how tired she would be. Yet Bryan wasn't blind, he could tell that Brianna was tired. After finishing up his report for the day, he laid his head down upon Brianna's chest. "...and now I'm pretty tired," he muttered.

"Naturally, you've been up and running whole day," Brianna replied and laid her head back down on a pillow. Suddenly, Bryan lifted up his head.

"What did you do today, sis?" he asked. Brianna looked at him, eyes filled with surprise. Yet his eyes were sincere; he was curious about what Brianna had been doing.

"My work, bro," she told, laying her head back down again. "Delivering packages from here to there, riding the bicycle... damn, my ass is killing me!"

Bryan laughed out loud. "A hard saddle, or did you fall down?"

"Both," Brianna replied, joining Bryan's laughter. Bryan felt his sister's chest vibrating with the laughter. Oh, how he enjoyed the feeling! He enjoyed every time Brianna's inhale lifted him up a bit while he was lying on her stomach and chest, and he enjoyed every time her exhale brought him back down. Brianna wrapped her hands around Bryan, who responded by cuddling to her. A silence landed upon those two, until finally, a few seconds before falling asleep, Bryan broke the silence.

"I love you, sis," he muttered.

"I love you too, bro," Brianna replied, feeling a tear falling down her cheek. "More than anything else in the world."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	9. Stealing Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 9: Stealing Fury

Two years passed.

Bryan was getting closer of turning nine, Brianna had already turned nineteen, and life was beginning to look better. Ever since his little show-off, no one had dared to attack Bryan any more, and Brianna had earned enough money to buy more furniture. The apartment actually began to feel like a home.

Every evening Bryan and Brianna watched the TV the previous owner had left behind him. Brianna lay on the sofa on her stomach and Bryan lay on her back. There was no other place on earth he felt as safe as that, even though Brianna found it a bit screwy when Bryan fell asleep before she did and refused to move one bit. What got to Bryan, though, was that Brianna grew partial to beer. Because of Cary, Bryan had a slight phobia when it came to alcoholic beverages. Just seeing a bottle of beer got him jumpy.

"Sis, I don't like when you drink that stuff," Bryan whined. Brianna gave him a slightly surprised look and put the bottle back onto their coffee table.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Beer... it's bad. It makes you bad."

Brianna gave him her warmest smile and took him into her arms. Bryan resisted only a bit.

"It's not an on-off-situation, bro," she said. "Beer doesn't make you bad."

"It made Cary bad."

"Beer didn't make Cary bad. Cary was bad to begin with. If you drink beer only a little, you'll be okay. If you drink it a lot, you'll be just like Cary, you know?"

Suddenly, Bryan looked Brianna deep into her eyes, deeper than ever before. "Sis..." he exhaled. "Promise me you won't become like Cary! Promise me you won't drink that much!"

Feeling a slight guiltiness somewhere inside her, Brianna embraced her brother. She was able to sense how frightened Bryan actually was, and it was something she never-ever wanted him to be. It was wrong – little boys shouldn't have to be afraid, at least not of their sisters. Brianna kissed him gently, and as a tear ran down her cheek, she whispered;

"I promise, Bryan. I promise you will never have to be afraid of me. I promise I will never get drunk. You have my word."

Bryan sighed with relief. "I will never get drunk, either," he replied. "I promise."

--------------------------

Bryan's birthday was getting closer. Secretly, Brianna had planned on making his birthday really special, yet she felt her plans shattering and running through her fingers like dust every time she looked into her wallet. What made matters more screwy, though, was that she earned less than her boss promised. It was something Brianna kept cursing inside her mind every day when she delivered packages all over the area. Especially when the delivery had to be taken to downtown, where her ragged, mannish figure stood out from the crowd like a raven in a ring of pigeons. She made a delivery to an office of a great big corporation called Mishima Syndicate. It located in a monstrous skyscraper, that had more marble and glamor than Brianna had ever seen in her life. Still, hiding her astonishment, she walked her way to the receptionist's desk and checked name of the addressee; "I have a package for mister Lee Chaolan."

"Seventeenth floor, take that elevator there and continue right through the hallway," the receptionist guided her. Brianna followed the route and came over to the desk of Chaolan's secretary. "Can I help you, miss?" the secretary asked the moment she saw Brianna.

"D-Race messenger," Brianna dismissed. "A package for Mr. Lee Chaolan."

"I'll take it," the secretary said, signing the package. A loud, Japanese cursing came out from Chaolan's office, catching Brianna's attention for a moment. The door of the office was slightly open, revealing a heavily decorated office with a golden bust in a shape of a unicorn. The bust gave Brianna an idea, which she planned to launch the same night. The secretary handed the receipt back to Brianna, who took it and left that instant, taking a different way out of the building to take a little tour around the building. It didn't seem to be heavily guarded at all, for being such a big place.

Brianna tucked Bryan into bed early that evening. When the boy had finally fell asleep, Brianna dressed herself into a black sweater, black jeans and a pair of black leather gloves she had happened to come across one day. Once more kissing her brother goodbye, she made her way back to the Syndicate HQ. Brianna thought it was ridiculously easy to break into the building. What she didn't realize, though, was that so far she had been lucky. As she approached the office she had seen the bust in, she heard arguing coming from it. Unfortunately, the two men that were arguing were Japanese, leaving Brianna out cold from the matter of the argument. She waited patiently for the men to exit the office, and after some time, a tall, silver-haired man stormed out from the office without noting Brianna who stood in the shadows. The other man was left into the office. Brianna peeked into the office, and she saw a black-haired, Japanese man whose hair looked like he could drill a hole into the ground with it. The man was too enraged to even note Brianna before she struck her elbow hard and fast into his head, knocking him out that instant. The guy fell down too fast for Brianna to grab him, and a loud "THUD" echoed in the hallways. A few Japanese shouts carried out into the office. Brianna shoved her panic aside, grabbed the unicorn bust into a backpack she had taken with her and raced out from the office. Hearing the guards approaching from the other end of the hallway she was in, Brianna quickly hid herself into a room nearby. She would have waited for the guards to go away, but the room she entered was not empty; there was a Japanese woman with a little baby in the room, and the woman gasped upon seeing Brianna. She began shrieking in Japanese. Brianna began to get irritated.

"Shut up! I won't hurt you!" she snapped to no avail. The woman kept on yammering, until she shrieked out the name "Ganryu!"

The floor trembled. Paintings on the walls weren't far from dropping down. Brianna felt the ground shaking underneath her feet when the biggest – or at least the heaviest - man she ever saw entered the room. She watched in a complete shock as a sumo-wrestler approached her, glaring at her, as if to tell he was about to go bowling using her as the ball. Brianna was sure the man would kill her.

But then, something inside her changed. A picture of Bryan's face flashed before her eyes. It was all she needed to overcome her fear. A purpose – the reason why she was there to begin with. The sole purpose of her existence; to serve and to protect Bryan. She couldn't fulfill her mission if she died here now. The feeling was pretty close to a dream-like state, where time and place cease to exist. As Ganryu the sumo attempted grabbing Brianna, she landed a quick kick into his ankle and gave his stomach a hard uppercut. While Ganryu was taken by surprise, Brianna twisted his thick arm into a lock and belted him hard into head with her boot. Ganryu dropped down before he had a chance to make resistance. The woman in the room became too shocked to keep screaming. Brianna picked up the backpack she dropped. "Sorry 'bout the mess..." she winked and ran out from the room.

Suddenly, she heard a pistol cocking behind her. "Don't move!" a male voice shouted. A Japanese, according to the accent. Brianna stopped and raised her hands, while kicking her brain into action. She had to get out of there, fast.

"Turn around!" the voice ordered, and Brianna obeyed. It was the same, silver-haired guy that had stormed out of the office. He spoke something with the Japanese woman, keeping his sight on Brianna all the time. When done speaking with the woman, he turned back to Brianna. Seeing her backpack on her hand, he ordered her to throw it down. Feeling she had no other choice, Brianna shoved the backpack on the floor. The unicorn statue came halfway out from it. The man laid a questioning sight on it, and then on Brianna. "You're a thief?" he asked.

"No, I'm the new pizza deliverer..." Brianna replied dryly. "Of course I'm a thief."

The man sighed with relief and lowered his pistol. "Thank goodness..."

Brianna's jaw was close to dropping onto the floor. Suddenly, the man began hollering some other name. "Kazuya!" he hollered. "Kazuya!"

"If Kazuya's the guy with a drill in his hair he's taking a little nap," Brianna replied.

"What... how..." the man wondered. "How did you knock him out?"

Then, another weapon was cocked. "Oh, man!" a voice too familiar to Brianna whined. "Mr. Lee, please talk to your brudda for me, you dig? All I did was take a leak and the guy's been attacked the same instant!"

"... ... .. Bruce?" Brianna wondered inside her head. But now as Lee's attention was somewhere else, Brianna grabbed him by his pistol, yanked it from his hand and placed its nose on his temple. "I hate to interrupt this little family episode, but I've gotta run."

Just then did Bruce step out from the shadows. "...Brianna?" he cried out. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Wait, Bruce, you know her?" Lee inquired.

"Y... yeah, a former student of mine," Bruce replied.

"You shouldn't have said that, Bruce," Brianna warned. "I am not a healthy person to know."

With that, Brianna shoved Lee towards Bruce with all her strength. She grabbed the backpack with the unicorn bust from the floor and fled, running as fast as she could. She ran a few floors down until another group of guards ambushed her. Now her panic was beginning to take over. Feeling there was no other choice, Brianna jumped head-first out of the nearest window, and landed on her feet to a balcony that was a few floors below. She jumped and grabbed a flagpole, and after swinging a few times on it, she dropped down onto the ground and raced back home. Lee was left staring stunned and motionless behind her.

"Who... is she? Where has she learned to move like that?" he asked Bruce.

"I don't know. I haven't taught her that," Bruce replied.

"I want to know everything about her. Name, address, family, occupation, blood type... everything."

"Are you planning to recruit her?" Bruce laughed.

"Actually, yes. She might come in useful."

"Then you have to be quick. I hear the cops are interested in her as well. In other meaning than getting her busted, that is."

Brianna didn't stop running until she reached the 8 Mile area. She stopped nearby the black market area to catch her breath, and to make sure she wasn't followed. A few moments later she sold the unicorn bust for a good price, and jogged back home. Bryan was still fast asleep when Brianna crouched down by him and gave him a kiss into his forehead. She felt she would do anything for him. Anything. She couldn't explain why or how she felt like that; she couldn't say what spawned the powerful love she felt for him. But the feeling was strong enough to get her through even the toughest situations. All she had to do was to cling onto the feeling, and she could do anything. Bryan Fury was a true wonder.

After changing back to regular clothes, Brianna slumped onto the sofa. Even though she had afforded to buy Bryan a bunk, she still slept on the sofa. She pulled her field jacket onto herself, but even though she felt sleepy, she couldn't fall asleep. Bruce had got her worried. He had blurted out he knew her, and he was able to recognize her. Should the cops come after her, it would be all Bruce's doing. Luckily Detroit was a place where a girl like Brianna could easily disappear without a trace. And that was something she was good at, anyway.

The tiredness slowly took over Brianna's mind, and soon after these thoughts, she fell into a deep sleep.

To be continued...


	10. Fury Promoted

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 10: Fury promoted

Bryan woke up before Brianna the next morning. Luckily, it was Saturday, so Bryan would have a day off – but Brianna wouldn't. First he supposed that she had already left, but as he saw her sleeping on the sofa he quickly shook her awoke. "Sis! You're late for work!" he cried out. Brianna forced her tired eyes open the instant Bryan's anxious voice pierced her dream. "Wha... what?" she managed to mutter. Bryan pulled her up from the sofa.

"You're late for work!" he cried out.

It took a good while before Brianna was able to kick her brains into action. She took a quick look at her watch and realized she should've been at work for an hour already. But, to tell the truth, she didn't feel like she was in shape to work right now. Her head ached like never before, and almost every muscle in her body was sore from jumping through the Syndicate window like that. She stood up from the sofa, ran her fingers absently through Bryan's hair and grabbed their wall-phone, phoning to her friend's beeper. Soon the phone rang.

"Cassie?" Brianna answered the phone.

"I'm here, boo," Cassie replied. "What up?"

"I'mma take the morning off, Cassie. Tell Central I'll come after lunch hour, okay?"

"Don't worry, boo. Cassie's got your back covered."

"Thanks," Brianna replied and hung up. She had to take a long yawn before she felt able to move again.

"Sis, are you OK?" Bryan asked. "You don't look so good."

Brianna replied with another absent-minded caress and made coffee for herself. Bryan sat down to have breakfast with her, feeling Brianna left something untold. He watched like a hawk when Brianna took the first sips from her mug. "What?"

"You're not telling me something," Bryan said, lowering his tone significantly. "You've never slept this long anyway."

"I was tired," Brianna avoided eye-contact with her brother. "That is all."

A heavy silence.

"You're lying," Bryan said. Brianna felt like she was hit into head with a log upon hearing those words. Not exactly because what he said – more like how he said it. Bryan had had no emotion in his voice, and he spoke like it had been the most obvious truth, as if he had said the sun rises from the east and sets in the west. He looked at her straight into her eyes, silently demanding to know the truth.

What could Brianna say? "I was stealing an item from a mafia that runs about one third of this earth so I could get money for your birthday, but gee, I almost got caught by my former teacher and had to dive head-first out the nearest window?", eh?

Brianna knew she could never come to speak such things aloud in front of Bryan. She wasn't sure how would he react if he heard his sister was a thief. After some quick thinking, Brianna dismissed Bryan's inquiry with a simple; "It's not polite to snoop around right before your birthday, Bryan."

That made him shut up with an excited smile on his face.

Meanwhile at DPD police department, a Chinese man known as Lei Wulong looks up to the security camera recordings of yesterday, catching Brianna bringing up the package for Lee Chaolan. "Yes, that is her," Mr. Chaolan declared. "Brianna Grendel, according to Mr. Irvine."

"Brianna Grendel was reported missing two years ago along with her little brother Bryan," Lei knew to tell. "They ran out from home with their father's pickup that was found from a river near Detroit. The siblings were presumed dead, but their bodies were never found. Tho' no one has heard of them ever since."

"It doesn't take a Houdini to disappear in the Detroit slum area..." Lee muttered.

Lei took a close-up on her.

"Looks like a regular girl to me," he said. "You said she dived head-first through your window after breaking flawlessly into your office building and taking out your sumo bodyguard?"

"I want her brought in front of my brother, alive, in two days," Lee insisted while standing up and towering over the sitting supercop. "It doesn't matter how great a police officer you are in Hong Kong. This is Detroit, and you're under the employment of Detroit Police Department – thus you work for the Mishima Syndicate. Understood, Mr. Wulong?"

Lei stood up to his full length, yet still remaining slightly shorter than Lee. "Find this girl," Chaolan said, in a slightly more polite tone of voice.

"And what if she disappears into thin air?" Lei inquired.

"Then there's a good chance you disappear right behind her," Lee snickered and left the station. Wulong sat down and let out a heavy sigh. He looked back at the monitor, when suddenly something in Brianna's clothing caught his attention. After zooming in on her jacket, he clearly saw a D-Race messenger ID card. Lei grabbed his jacket from his locker and headed to D-Race immediately.

D-Race was a messenger company that hired many young people; most of the workers were in their 20's and drop-outs from various places of education. Brianna fitted the group like a glove. The place was led by Central, a republican man in his 30's or so. He wasn't very popular among the messengers, but even they would admit he kept the place up and running with his annoying comments and tight schedule. He took in and sent out the packages from his desk through the messengers without moving much throughout the day. After the lunch break was well over, Lei Wulong marched into the D-Race, straight to Central. It took Central a while to understand that someone had come to speak with him.

"Can I help you?" he inquired absently.

"Lei Wulong of the Detroit Police Department," Lei introduced himself. Central's eyes weren't far from dropping out of his skull. He stood to attention that instant, saluted and said; "Herman J. Smith, a proud, patriotic American. How may I help you, sir?"

"I'm looking for a certain young lady who works here."

"I'm sorry, sir, but ladies would be elsewhere."

"Her name is Brianna Grendel. Is she working here?"

"There are no Grendels here, sorry. And only one Brianna, come to that, too."

"Really? May I speak with her?"

"Look... she may be easy for the eye, but she's got some serious attitude problem. Especially here, at work. If you want to do it the easy way, you should speak with her when she's off. Here's her home address, but she usually hangs out in The Strike with her pals, you can find her there during the evenings."

"I need to speak with her now."

Central nodded in his excitement and headed towards the back of the D-Race with Wulong. Cassie raced into the girls' room. "Brianna!" she hollered, receiving Brianna's gaze as an answer. "What's the dealio? Why is the super cop after you, boo?"

"Super what?"

"Super cop! The Great Who-Long!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Lei Wulong! The guy just waltzed in and spoke with Central, asking something about a girl named Brianna Grendel. Central figured Wulong would be talking about you, so he escorts him over here right as we speak."

That instant, Central banged the door of the girls' room. "Brianna! I know you're in there!" he hollered. "Come out, or you'll be in big trouble."

Brianna didn't startle. As calm as ever, she looked around the girls' room to find another way out. Nothing was found.

"Please, you don't have to scare her," Wulong said to Central. "She's not in trouble. I just wish to speak with her."

"Brianna! Don't let the authorities wait!" Central shouted, ignoring Wulong for now.

"Boo, what's going on?" Cassie demanded to know.

"I've no idea," Brianna lied. But it was something she was good at. It didn't matter if people put her a lie detector on her; she could still be able to say whatever she wanted. That's why she was startled when Bryan caught her lying.

"If you've done nothing wrong, then you don't have anything to worry about, right?" Cassie declared. "Or have you?"

Brianna let out a heavy sigh. When Central began pounding the door again, Brianna slammed the door open right into his face, dropping him down immediately. She gave him an indifferent "Sorry" and went on her way. Wulong grabbed her by her shoulder.

"Brianna Grendel?" he asked.

"No, you must be mistaken," Brianna replied and shook off his hand. Still, Wulong blocked her way.

"I think I'm not mistaken. You have just changed your last name."

"You ARE mistaken," Brianna growled with the maniacal glimmer once again appearing in her eyes. "Now leave me alone."

"You were caught last night in the Mishima Syndicate's security camera while you broke into their office," Wulong said quickly, but lowering his voice so no one else could hear. "Kazuya Mishima's bodyguard Bruce Irvin recognized you as his former student in kickboxing, after you knocked out Kazuya, startled his wife Jun Kazama and took out his other bodyguard. The sumo wrestler Ganryu. Does that ring the bell?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Brianna dismissed. "Do I look like a gladiator or a ninja to you?"

"Kazuya's associate Lee Chaolan – who unofficially runs the Detroit Police Department – ordered me to bring you to him, alive. You know what he will be after. Apparently your stunts impressed him and he seeks to recruit you. No one has refused to work for him and lived to tell about it. I would so hate to do that to you."

"Look, cop, you've got the wrong person!" Brianna exclaimed, but then Wulong pulled out a printed pic from the recordings of the security camera. Brianna was clearly visible in the pic. "Put that thing away. What're you gonna do, blackmail me? No one has done that and lived to tell about it, either."

"I'm not seeking to bring any harm to you," Wulong said. "On the contrary, I would just like to speak with you for a moment."

"I'm at work. I don't have time for the likes of you."

"Oh, so now you're ready to roll, huh?" Central's voice echoed from the distance. Apparently he had just managed to pick himself up. "154 Primrose Lane, hot run!"

Brianna grabbed the package from Central and headed outside with her bike, followed by Wulong. "Will you stop following me?" Brianna growled again.

"I do not work for the DPD, Brianna," he said. "My name is Lei Wulong, and I'm from the Hong Kong police. I'm cooperating with the Interpol to get the Syndicate's paws off the DPD, thus I'm pretending to work for them."

"I still don't see what's that got to do with me," Brianna declared, stopping on her track.

"You broke into the Syndicate's office bare-handed and took down two thugs without breaking sweat. That's quite a stunt, wanna tell me how…"

Wulong stopped on his tracks; Brianna had disappeared into thin air. No matter how hard he looked around him, she was nowhere to be seen. There was, however, Bruce Irvin standing a hundred feet away from him on the other side of the road, minding his own business. Wulong shrugged and decided to head for The Strike that night.

---------------------------

Even though The Strike was a club where there were no kids allowed, Bryan was an exception, since there was no pornographic entertainment provided. He sat at the same table with Brianna, Cassie, Flex and Ahma – all of them were D-Race messengers. Flex was slightly geeky fellow, with a constant drool over women and easy money. Ahma was a Rastafarian, who avoided deeds that weren't in keeping with his religion. He was also the guy that was always ready to give some advice. Cassie was a bad-ass bitch, yet the closest thing to a friend Brianna had ever had.

Bryan had become so usual a sight in The Strike that no one payed any special attention to him. Not even when he stood up onto a barstool next to the barkeep and requested one more can of beer to Brianna and her friends. The barkeep handed the can to him, as well as another lemonade. Even when the place was packed with people, Bryan was small enough to sail through the crowd without getting stepped on.

"What do you say, Bryan?" Flex said to him that evening. "Care for a game of pool?"

"No thanks, I'll pass," Bryan dismissed and took a sip from his lemonade.

"Oh, come on, man!" Flex begged. "No time limit! You can aim as long as you want."

Bryan gave Brianna an inquisitive look, getting a slight nod as a response. "Ok, Flex," Bryan said. "I'm in."

The two guys left the table. Brianna emptied her beer mug and subdued a yawn. Last night was still taxing her. Cassie moved closer to her. "So what did the super cop want?"

"Whaa...?" Brianna muttered, hardly staying awake.

"The super cop is a human, too," Ahma began preaching. "Humans make mistakes when under pressure, and now he has mistaken Brianna to someone else who has done bad."

"That's the gist of it," Brianna nodded.

"Uh-huh," Cassie replied. "Then why is your super cop standing there with the Barkeep and looking at you?"

Brianna wasn't far from spilling her beer out. She looked at the bar and lo'! There stood Lei Wulong, in person, getting guided by the Barkeep, and then approaching their table.

"So I was stopped by a cop the other day and he said..." Brianna sighed as Lei was close enough to hear her.

"We didn't have a chance to finish our conversation today," he said.

"Cassie, Ahma, say hello to my friend..."

"Lei Wulong. Nice to meet you."

Cassie and Ahma nodded their hello. Just then, Flex happened to come over. "Oh, man! I can't believe it!" he cried. "I lost a game of pool to this midget nine hundred and nothing!"

"Hey, at least **I** wasn't tryin' to cheat!" Bryan exclaimed.

"Pushing the opponent isn't cheating, it's clinging on an opportunity. Twisting the opponent in an arm lock is cheating!"

"Is not!"

"It is!"

"Is not!"

"Shut up, both of you," Brianna growled.

"You should teach this moron some manners!" Flex groaned. Brianna launched herself up from the stool, standing in her full length in front of him. All color drained from Flex's face as Brianna towered over him, like a zombie preparing to dig her teeth in her victim's throat. "If I say 'shut up', even the stand-up guys become mimics. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Flex replied.

"Say 'I understand'."

"... I understand."

"Good."

By now, Bryan had noted Wulong standing by the table. "Who's he?" he inquired. Brianna looked first at her brother, then at the super cop. "No one," she finally said.

"Is there a place where we could talk?" Wulong insisted on meeting Brianna. Brianna weighed the situation and thought she'd be sooner rid of the guy if she spoke with him. Besides, Bryan seemed tired already. It was time to call it a day. "We're leaving," Brianna said, briefly. "Bryan is tired."

"Is not," Flex muttered, but zipped his mouth shut as Brianna's sight could have easily blown his head off. Bryan grabbed Brianna by her jacket and climbed his way onto her shoulders where he usually sat when walking from The Strike home. Now Bryan towered over Wulong, who laid an amused look on Bryan.

"So you're Bryan, huh?" he grinned.

"So you're no one, huh?" Bryan replied. Brianna gave her part of the pay to Cassie and went outside, being followed by Lei. Bryan rode the whole way on Brianna's shoulders, like always, almost falling asleep. Brianna and Lei didn't speak while walking, but as Brianna had once again tucked Bryan into his bed, Brianna made some coffee – mainly for herself – and sat down at their dinner table to speak.

"What do you really want from me?" she asked.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Brianna," Lei replied. "I would like to recruit you. Interpol needs your kind of people."

"I'm not exactly the cop-type."

"None of the best detectives are, and that's why they are the best. No one realizes they are cops. You are a talented cat burglar and – if I may say – you can scare the living daylights out people if you want. That is a skill that is needed in many undercover missions. And the pay is much higher than that of what you get from the D-Race."

"And the hours much longer, right?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"Then forget it. I won't do that to Bryan."

"How old is he, anyway?"

"He'll turn 9 day after tomorrow," Brianna told and took a long sip. Even though she didn't show it, the idea of better payment tempted her like hell. She let her tongue lick her lips as she thought about everything she could do if she earned more money; she wouldn't have to steal anymore, she could always offer Bryan a decent birthday and life state... if only she spent a little less time with him. Even though she thought of herself as his bodyguard, she knew Bryan had to grow independent on her. Now that he was able to defend himself and his life, there was one less thing Brianna had to worry about. But she couldn't be thinking about the chance she was putting Bryan in danger as well. Suppose she gets into some mafia's black list, they could get Bryan instead of her. Unless...

... unless they were unaware of the fact Bryan was her brother.

"You don't have to decide it now," Lei said, laying his hand over Brianna's. "Let's do it like this; I'll come to see you after one week has passed. I'm giving you a fair chance to disappear if you feel threatened. If you are still here after a week, I will hear you out. Either way, I won't pass you over to the Syndicate."

"...thanks," Brianna forced herself to say. Lei stood up, wished Brianna goodnight and left. Brianna was left sitting at the table, thinking about what Lei had offered. Suddenly, she jumped up and raced after Wulong. He was a few dozen meters away from Brianna's house as he heard Brianna's voice calling him.

"Wulong!"

Brianna caught him easily. "I've decided," she said.

"You will join us?" Wulong supposed.

"This is too good a chance to improve Bryan's life. I can't miss it. But, under one condition."

"And that is...?"

"No one must know about Bryan. And if there is the slightest chance he is in danger because of me, I want him delivered to safety immediately."

"Naturally," Wulong nodded, offering his hand. "Welcome aboard. You are now officially a member of International Police."

Brianna and Lei shook hands in the darkening night.

To be continued...


	11. Healthchecking Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

This chapter is told in the 9-year-old Bryan's POV

Chapter 11: Health-checking Fury

After we left from The Strike that evening, this strange man tagged along me and Brianna all the way to our home. Brianna didn't like the man. He asked strange questions from her and kept her under a pressure. She clearly was bothered, but when I was just about to fall asleep in my bed, I heard Brianna calling out the man's name. Loud. She ran after him, outside into the night. He stopped to hear her out. I couldn't hear them, even though I went to the front door to listen. But I saw them shaking hands under a streetlight. It seems that whatever arguments they had, they were long gone. I ran back to bed before Brianna came back inside. She stayed up pretty long that night. I can't say how long, because I fell asleep before she did.

Next morning she woke me up pretty early. She was pretty; she had combed her hair and instead of wearing her old camo pants, army boots and a dirty t-shirt, she wore clean jeans, boots and a camisole. "Hey," she said softly. "Morning. Breakfast is ready."

Her lips shined. Did she wear make-up? I didn't know she even had any cosmetics.

She helped me up from my bed as usual, and I stumbled into the kitchen after her. She had already served me some cereals and orange juice. My favorite! Especially when it's served right under my nose. I ate in a record time, but I couldn't help noticing that Brianna was very nervous. She bit her lip every half a minute, and kept checking her watch. After I had finished my breakfast, she told me to dress up. She said we'd pay a visit to one place. She didn't tell me much about it, she just said some man would ask her some questions and that's it.

When we got to the place, I noted two things incorrect about what Brianna had said. First off, the place was some sort of a hospital. It was my first time in one, but I sure can recognize a hospital when I see one. Secondly, there weren't any men to ask her questions. It was a lady doctor. She spoke things with Brianna, and I swear Brianna was irritated by most of the questions she asked. The doctor got her height and weight (Wow, I didn't know Brianna was 165 cm tall and weighed 57kg. I mean, only that much. She was very big!), blood type, hemoglobin... then she just began interrogating.

"When did your menstruations begin?" the doctor asked.

"My what?" Brianna wondered.

"Your... menstruations? You know, the bad days of the month?"

Brianna shook her head, ignorant of what the doctor inquired.

"Are you saying you don't have any sort of bleeding in your genitals once in a month?"

"Why? Should there be?" Brianna asked with a slight blush.

For some reason, the doctor was worried. I didn't understand, shouldn't she be worried IF Sis had bleedings? Sis look bothered, too. But I think because she was wondering the same thing as I was. The doctor was worried BECAUSE she had no bleeding? As strange as it sounds, it is true.

"I would like to run some tests," the doctor said.

"Now hold on a minute," Brianna snapped. "It's my body you're talking about. If something's wrong I wanna know about it immediately, especially if it prevents me from my new occupation."

I was too busy studying my fingernails and fighting this overwhelming boredom, but I heard the doctor explaining something about bees and flowers to Brianna, who, was either very irritated or extremely uneasy. Either way, her cheeks were slightly red when the doctor had finished her sermon. "I take this is your first health check?" the doctor inquired.

"Actually, yes..." Brianna sighed. "Look, is this really necessary for the job? There's nothing wrong with my health."

"Miss Fury, you're nineteen. If you do not have periods, something is definitely wrong."

"Is not. I'll do just fine without them."

The doctor took off her glasses and sighed, rubbing her eyes. "It is my job to keep track on all the detectives' healths. You included. If you really want this job, you'll have to come to some further tests."

Now, it was Brianna's turn to sigh. "When?"

"At once, if it suits you."

Brianna nodded slowly. The doctor took her away for a while and gave me some ice cream. She said I could eat it as much as I wanted, but I was not very hungry. I felt bad without Sis. So there I sat, waiting for her to arrive. Suddenly, that Wulong-guy came in and – after seeing me – sat right next to me. "Hello, Bryan," he said.

"Hello, no-one," I replied. I didn't feel like talking. I wanted Sis.

"Where's Brianna?"

"In some tests."

"Has she been there for long?"

"... yeah."

"How long?"

Couldn't say. I couldn't tell time yet.

"Too long," I replied. Just then, I felt a warm tingling somewhere inside me. Among all the footsteps there were, I recognized Brianna's long, confident steps coming closer. I sprung up from the sofa I sat on and ran to her, screaming "Sis!" like I hadn't seen her for ages. She greeted me warmly, tossing me up into the air and catching me softly but certainly. I knew I was always welcome near her. I would've climbed onto her shoulders again, but the doors were too low; I would've smashed my head through them before sitting comfortably. Still, I refused to climb down, neither, so Sis carried me back to the doctor's office to hear out her report. I toyed with Sis's medallion as the doc flipped through some pages.

"Do you happen to be a bodybuilder?" she suddenly asked Sis.

"No. How come?" Sis replied.

"Well, judging by your body type and fat percentage, I'd venture to say you'd be using steroids for quite some time, now. But, the tests proved me wrong; there were no extra testosterone or anabolic steroids in your body."

Sis seemed pretty miffed, and that was the understatement of the decade.

"You didn't need to test me to find out if I had pumped steroids," she spat. "People know pretty well that I'm not from the richest end of population. I can hardly feed myself and my brother and pay the bills at the same time! And we both know how much shit like steroids and hormones cost. With just a little thinking you could've saved half an hour that you wasted to your worthless tests."

"Calm down, please, miss Fury. There's no need for hostility, I'm only doing my job."

I bet Sis was about to say something, but she never did. She just sighed.

"Do you go to any sort of gym often?"

"No."

"But you do work out actively, correct?"

"At home. Cheapest hobby ever made up."

"How heavy dumbbells do you use?"

"I do not use dumbbells."

True. Every time Sis made push-ups, I sat on her back. And every time she made pull-ups, I hung around her waist. She didn't use dumbbells. Well, unless I'm a dumbbell.

"Let me see if I have gotten this correct..." the doctor sighed. "You work out actively at home without any weights, you do not use steroids or hormones, you're not a bodybuilder. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"Then, miss Fury, could you please explain this: The reason you do not have periods is that your fat percentage is below 10, all over your body – that's dangerously low. You must have had it that low from the early puberty, since you claim you haven't had periods ever. Can you tell me how is this possible?"

This was one of the few times I actually saw Sis get confused. She was quiet. Very quiet. For ages.

"No, I can't tell you."

"And why is that?"

"I can't tell you what I don't know."

The doc was about to fail Sis's tests, but Wulong got her to decide otherwise. So, Sis passed – and began her work as an Interpol detective.

--------------------------------------

As Brianna began working longer hours, I usually spent my days with my friends. You remember them, don't you? Daniel, Jonathan, John and Adam. Although not many used those names of them anymore. Daniel had become Delta. He had been learning to write his name, but he usually had spelled it "Delta", so it had become his nickname. Just like Jonathan had become Jozz, even though he had shortened his name himself. He had also began to call John "Lun" for some reason.

You wanna know what Adam is called? He's Edam! A Finnish friend of his family had accidentally written his name wrong into a postcard, and it had turned out that Edam was also a Finnish cheese brand.

I wasn't without a nickname, either. You see, we were playing car race again one day when we saw Delta's sister running away from their backyard, screaming in terror. "Snake! Snake!" she shrieked and rushed inside their house. Well, I try not to be foolhardy, as Brianna always stresses, but I was really interested. Could it be the same kind of snake Brianna has in her medallion? I had to go and take a look. It wasn't very hard to find the snake from their backyard rock. It was awesome! It was brown-grayish with black pattern on its back, and its eyes were light gray. Its twofold tongue licked the air rapidly. It was quick, but I was even quicker. I stared its eyes, as deep as I could see, almost if I tried to hypnotize it. Then, without any warning, I yanked it up from the rock, holding it from its neck. It was helpless in my hand; it wasn't able to bite me with its poisonous fangs, and it wasn't strong enough to squirm its way out of my grip. I went back to my friends and showed them the snake that turned out to be a pit viper. That's where I got my nickname – Pit Viper, P-Viper or just Viper.

The next morning Brianna received further details about her tests. The doctor herself came to pay a visit. I was playing around with my toy soldiers and listened.

"Miss Fury, what do you remember of your parents?" the doctor asked.

"What of them?" Brianna spat. She never spoke of our parents; our mom had died when I was born, and we wished to forget Cary totally. But sometimes – just sometimes – Brianna woke up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain. She never told it to me, but I still remember when she argued with Cary. I was sick back then. "It was YOU who broke a beer bottle into my head, asshole!" Brianna had shrieked, shoving him backwards. "You left me dying onto the floor! You cold-blooded murderer! And now that you realized you're not man enough to kill me, you hired an assassin to deal with me and Bryan!"

There still was – like the doc later on pointed out – a piece of glass stuck inside Brianna's skull. It moved, from time to time, mainly when she moved around in her sleep. Brianna was pretty still sleeper; she hardly tossed and turned. But when she saw nightmares, she rolled around like a spinning top. The only nightmare Brianna had was the nightmare caused by Cary. And that's when the piece of glass could move around, sending a piercing pain through her head and making her scream.

"Did your mother use any kind of medication, drugs etc. when she was pregnant?" the doc asked.

"Couldn't say. Wasn't born back then. What of it?"

"Your physics show some signs of your mother being a drug addict. Your hormone-emitting glands don't function as they should, which would explain your extraordinary large muscles. You have a great hormone disorder."

"Hey, do I look like a dictionary? Speak English!"

A silence.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Do you find men... umm... sexually interesting?"

"... no?"

"What about women, then?"

"No. What has this got to do with my hormonal disorders?"

"Well... hormones determine pretty much our behaviors and characteristics. There's this male hormone called testosterone, and female hormone called estrogen. Estrogen controls female gender characteristics, whereas testosterone control male gender characteristics. Women tend to have more estrogen than testosterone, and vice versa. You, however, have about the same amount of both hormones. This leaded into the decay of your inner genitals, such as your womb and ovary. I'm afraid you will never be able to have children."

A silence.

"So?" Brianna inquired.

"You don't care?" the doc wondered, her jaw almost dropping onto the floor.

"No."

"Do you see it now yourself?" the doc cried. "You haven't got the slightest sexual interest in anything, you're not bothered by your decayed organs and you don't care if your body doesn't function right! I mean... how can anyone be so indifferent about her own well-being?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?"

That question took the doc aback.

"I'm not as stupid as you think I am," Brianna said, leaving the tone of her voice into slightly meaner state. "My task in this world is not to fill this country with more idiots by first screwing men and then giving birth and raising the brats alone because the sons of bitches haven't got the slightest interest in helping me out."

She took a quick glance at me. "My task is to look after Bryan," she said, subduing her anger. "And as long as he needs me by his side, I will be there, one hundred percent. It would be selfish of me to waste my time with men when I know I have someone who actually and honestly needs me."

An awkward silence.

"End of discussion," Brianna declared. "Now if you excuse me, I have duties to attend to."

I put my toy soldiers into their box and shoved the box back where I took it. Brianna took me to school and went to work. She really didn't seem bothered about what the doctor had told her. But I sure was. Was something really wrong with Sis? What did it mean that she couldn't have children, or that she had no sexual interest in anything? Was it a bad thing?

Too many questions. Luckily we took another car race with Delta and the fellows, so I had my mind in something else than Sis's health.

Still...

I hope Sis is fine.

To be continued...


	12. Father to Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 12: Father to Fury

"Ta-dah! Happy birthday, Bryan!"

Brianna came into Bryan's room with a small cake with a burning candle on it. She sat down on his bunk and waited for him to crawl from under his willow to see what's going on. He stared a while at the caramel in the shape of a large "9" on the cake before he was awake enough to realize that it was truly his birthday.

"Go on. Blow the candle out and make a wish!" Brianna said with a wide, sincere smile. At the same time Bryan remembered the last day, and the doc's visit. That instant he also decided his wish.

"_I wish Sis will be okay_," he said inside his mind and blew the candle out.

Brianna laid the cake aside and shifted something with the side of her foot. "There's something I'd want you to have," she said and lifted a cardboard box from the floor. "I'm sure you'll like it. Open it up."

With an unseen excitement, Bryan tore open the box to reveal the most coolest skateboard he had ever seen. It was pitch-black with a chrome snake in its bottom, with a hand made text "_Pit Viper_". "Wow, Sis...!" Bryan was hardly able to speak. "It's awesome!"

"I knew you'd like it," Brianna laughed. Her laughter sounded like the angels would sound. Just then, something occurred to Bryan. He remembered seeing an identical skateboard in one of Delta's magazines. All of the four had adored it, but it had cost a fortune! The chrome paint that Brianna had written the Pit Viper -text with wasn't from the cheapest end, either. Brianna must've given up many of her own interests to afford the skateboard and the paint.

Bryan skateboarded to school to show his new board to his gang. He had gotten big at school; no one had dared to pick a fight with him after he had beat Don Doe flawlessly. That meant that his property was safe, too.

After school Bryan was invited to party his birthday at Delta's place, since Brianna wouldn't be home until late in the evening. They played car race again, until Lun pulled five black bottles out of his back bag. "What's that?" Edam inquired.

"Found it at bro's fridge," Lun replied. "Wanna have some?"

"Gimme, gimme!" Bryan declared.

"Hold it, Viper! Wait for your turn!"

When Brianna got back home, she got pretty worried to find out Bryan wasn't there. He had always promised to come home before sundown, because that was when she would always come home. She checked every room – Bryan was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, the phone rang. "Hello?" Brianna answered it.

"_Am I speaking with Brianna Fury?_" a female voice said.

"Yes."

"_This is Angela Port, mother of Bryan's friend Daniel. I would like to speak about Bryan with you._"

Brianna didn't like the tone in her voice.

"How may I help you?" she asked, letting her irritation shine through her voice.

"_It would appear that Bryan celebrated his birthday too roughly with my son and their friends._"

"Eh... What's your point?"

"_Well – all five of them have passed out. I would like you to come get Bryan home._"

Brianna had to press down the mute button of the phone, so Delta's mother wouldn't hear her maniacal cackling. It took her quite a while to subdue her laughter and get back to the phone.

"_Miss Fury?_"

"I'll be right over."

She hung up and continued laughing for about five minutes before getting back control. "Bryan, you silly fool!" she smiled. "Oh well... at least you'll learn your lesson tomorrow morning."

It was the most hilarious sight Brianna was able to imagine; five little boys, passed out in the middle of a car race. Bryan was still holding a blue Dodge Viper in his hand, and there was an empty bottle right beside him. "Have you taught these manners to Bryan?" Mrs. Port snapped at her. Brianna sighed; "Yeah. Blame it all on me. I'm the root of all evil, aren't I?"

Mrs. Port figured she was very rude to young Brianna. She watched as Brianna gently lifted Bryan up from the ground into her arms. "Look, I apologize, miss Fury," she said. "I'm just... a little shocked. I'm not used to having booze in the house. And it was hasty of thinking Bryan would have brought them."

Brianna didn't reply. She just nodded and brought Bryan back home, but instead of bringing him in she left sleeping Bryan on a bench at their porch and brought two buckets – one empty, one filled with cold water -, a cloth and some orange lemonade. With that, she lifted Bryan back into her arms and let him rest comfortably.

After some time, Bryan began to regain consciousness. Brianna noted this when he suddenly gagged. She lifted up the empty bucket just in time – Bryan ralphed whatever he had been eating for the past 24 hours. And again. And again. Until there was nothing left to throw up. Brianna cleaned up his face and placed the wet cloth on his face. The boy wasn't able to do much of anything; he just lay still, clinging on his sister, crying the sickness he felt. Brianna was glad he was able to drink the orange lemonade she gave him, without throwing it up immediately.

When the sun began to rise, Bryan fell asleep. Brianna tucked him into his bed and checked her wristwatch; she would have the graveyard shift, so she could sleep until the noon. Not wanting to be interrupted – or more like willing to avoid sudden, loud noises, for Bryan's sake -, Brianna tore chords out of their doorbell and unplugged their phone. Then she finally laid down onto the sofa and stretched out her massive arms. She, too, fell asleep in no time.

Brianna was still asleep as Bryan woke up. His hangover wasn't fully gone, but he felt a lot better already. He couldn't help but keep wondering what the hell was in the bottle, anyway, because first it tasted a bit funny, then he became sleepy – then he fell asleep, and oh boy when he woke up! Fortunately Brianna had been there with him, to ease his sickness. That was the spot when Bryan decided to think twice before consuming ANYTHING he was offered.

Bryan staggered into the living room, to find Brianna fast asleep. She looked pretty odd when she was sleeping. For starters, she always slept on her stomach, and secondly, during the most of the time she was asleep, her eyes weren't. Either they were slightly open, or they kept moving rapidly. Or both. As if she was constantly observing what happened around her. Suddenly, her gray eyes opened up slightly and locked themselves on Bryan, who was taken aback by their stare. Brianna, however, resumed sleeping. Only her eyes stared at her brother. And when finally realizing it was her brother standing there, they shut and continued with their observing. Bryan found the whole episode very creepy, but it got him thinking; Brianna was constantly cautious – why? Was there something she was afraid of?

Afraid? Brianna? Bryan could hardly imagine those two words in the same sentence.

Just then, he felt something crawling up from his stomach. He raced into the bathroom just in time to worship the toilet bowl once more. The sound of vomiting tore Brianna away from her dream. She watched curiously as pale Bryan staggered out from the bathroom, a few seconds after a loud flush. Now that Brianna was awake, she looked much friendlier than when she had been asleep. Bryan would never forget the sight; he could only hope he would never see it again. Brianna looked scary when she was asleep.

Brianna lifted the blanket she was under, to welcome Bryan beside her. He didn't have to be encouraged twice; he slipped under the blanket and cuddled towards Brianna, who ran her fingers through the boy's white hair a few times. Bryan's hair had always been soft, at least when compared to Brianna's hair. Unlike many other women of her age, Brianna wasn't even the slightest bothered about her looks. She rarely combed her hair, a ponytail would do the trick instead. She didn't even use make-up, yet still her eyes were dark as if someone had used a bottle or two of eyeshadow on her. Even her lips were dark brownish-red, like dried blood, her skin was spotless and almost pure white. One could almost say she was beautiful. Had it not been for her bodybuilder's fitness, she could have easily had any man she would've wanted.

But she didn't want. She knew she wasn't meant for anything else than serving as Bryan's guardian. The doctor's report had proved it; the more and more she thought about her sterility and lack of sexual interest, the more and more confirmed she was about her gender being a coincidence. She wasn't meant for mothering kids. She wasn't meant for anyone else than Bryan.

Not that she hadn't given the idea some thought. For a while she had been slightly depressed of her loneliness, but it helped when the doctor told her the news. It helped to think that she was there only to take care of Bryan until he was able to take care of himself.

But what about after it? What was the purpose of her existence, then? Brianna swallowed loudly when the thought pierced her mind. Would she become useless? For the first time in ages, Brianna felt uneasy thinking about her future. It would be so easy to just disappear... to cease existing... after Bryan wouldn't need her anymore. But the fact was she wasn't able to just vanish.

Bryan moved, mumbling silently. He was asleep again.

Brianna figured it would be wise of her to think about her future after Bryan would survive on his own. She pressed a gentle kiss to his temple and closed her eyes, wandering into her own dream world.

The booze had really done its trick on Bryan; he was asleep whole day, even when Brianna had to get back to work. She knew she should've sent Bryan to school, but she couldn't force herself to wake up the boy. There was only one thing that awoke sympathy in her, no matter whom she was looking at: hangover. Only once had she had a hangover, but it had been enough. So instead, she brought another bottle of orange lemonade over to Bryan before leaving.

Bryan got used to Brianna's night shifts quickly. He knew when to go to bed, he knew how to lock the doors and warm up precooked food. Brianna didn't have to worry.

Yet the thoughts about becoming obsolete bothered Brianna for quite long. Even when she was walking home from the Interpol HQ, she kept wondering about her unsure future. She couldn't help but almost cry when thinking about the day when Bryan would move out on his own, start his own life, own career, get a job, a house, a girlfriend...

Well, Brianna wanted to judge the girlfriend before laying her blessing on their relationship! No cheap slut would be good enough for Bryan.

Suddenly, something else caught Brianna's attention. She was walking through the rough part of town, in the middle of the night, but she had company. No thugs, though. There were two people on the street beside her; a man and a woman, a Japanese couple by what Brianna guessed. The woman appeared to be pregnant, come to that, too. What on earth were they doing in this part of town, in the middle of night? It was like begging to get mugged, or worse – killed.

"Hey!" Brianna hollered at them. The couple looked at her and she got a better look at them. Both the man and the woman were in their late twenties and they were unusually well-built. The woman had long, red hair that was tied in two pigtails. She had beautiful brown eyes that could melt an iceberg. But the man was something else; he had long, black hair that was tied back with a tight ponytail, his eyes were bright green that almost glimmered in the night, and he was big – well, definitely not the tallest person Brianna had seen, not even the most muscular one, but it was something else that made him enormous in her eyes. She would have almost wet her pants for just seeing him, but the man oozed with strange serenity and gentleness. Brianna knew the man wouldn't do her any harm, not if she wouldn't beg for troubles.

She was taken aback by the man's whole being, but she recovered as soon as she was able to. "You're... not from around here, I take it?" she managed to mumble. The man nodded – Brianna was relieved to see he understood English.

"Look... it's not exactly wise to walk around here at this hour, this is quite a rough part of the town," Brianna said.

"You're here," the man replied. It was simple. Direct, yet not insulting.

"Well... I'm not the one with incoming kids here," Brianna said, nodding to the woman. The woman said something in Japanese to the man, and the man replied – and by what Brianna could say, he seemed to agree with her. Brianna wasn't interested in their conversation at the moment, though, she was more in a hurry to get them out of there, since the place was infamous for its gang fights.

"Do you have any safe place to go? A hotel, friends, relatives?" she asked, quickly, because she swore she could already hear the footsteps and chains of an approaching gang. "I'm a police officer, I can escort you, if you'd like."

The man didn't reply – he, too, heard the gang approaching. In fact, he had heard the gang approach waaaay earlier than Brianna had. Again, the Japanese woman said something, but this time the man seemed to disagree. Brianna forced herself to calm her breathing before continuing; "There is already one gang of thugs approaching. If we leave now, we just might avoid contact."

"It is too late," the man replied, and the same instant Brianna realized they were surrounded. She had been too concerned with the noises she heard from in front of her that she had failed to note the thugs that came from behind. Immediately Brianna's hand grasped her thigh, where the holster of her Desert Eagle usually located. Usually. This time, she was unarmed. The gang, however, wasn't unarmed. Pistols, knives and chains, wherever Brianna laid her eyes on. It was so silent than Brianna heard the chains ringing in the wind.

"_Kunimitsu-san_," the man suddenly said to the woman. The woman nodded, and what followed was something Brianna wouldn't have never expected to see. A pregnant woman leaped two meters upwards, just high enough to catch the end of the fire ladder that located above her, and she began to climb the ladder with ease, until she reached the roof and disappeared into the night. Brianna couldn't believe her eyes.

While Brianna was still left staring after the woman, the Japanese man suddenly pulled her behind him, as if he was the one protecting someone. Brianna was about to bring him back on earth and remind him that she was the one in charge of the situation, when she realized that the gang seemed more interested in her than in the man.

"Look, it's the steroid monster!"

"Where's the kid she hangs around with?"

"Forget about the kid. The boss said the bitch is more important."

"Stay back, Brianna Fury," the Japanese man said.

"Just a sec, now! What's this and how do you know my name?" Brianna exclaimed.

"That is irrelevant."

Brianna hated to admit but the guy was right. It was irrelevant. At least for now. She lowered her stance, acquiring her battle position. There were too many to fight her and her new ally, but right now all that mattered was to break their circle and flee. Both Brianna and the man paid attention as the leader of the group stepped forward. "Kill the man," he ordered. "But I want the wrestler bitch alive. Not necessarily in one piece, though."

The same instant there came three thugs from behind the man and Brianna. The man was fast enough to evade the strike, but Brianna got caught in a sleeper hold. But by the time the man sent the two thugs flying through the air on their own comrades, Brianna dug her elbow into the attacker's gut, spun around and cracked his head into her knee like an egg. With a murderous, insane glimmer in her eyes and her clothes spilled in the man's blood, Brianna turned to look at the leader. It was no longer unclear why did the underground people call her Bloody Brianna.

Suddenly Brianna felt a sting in her neck. She found a needle that was shot point-blank into her vein. It didn't take her much time to realize that the guys were serious in capturing her, because whatever tranquilizer had been in the needle, it was kicking into action at once. There was one needle shot at the man as well, but he had seen in coming and he caught it mid-air.

Brianna got enraged. She attacked head-on towards the leader like the psychopath she was, shrieking madly. Seven thugs fell before her feet, three of them died instantly as Brianna wrecked their necks or pulled their heads off their bodies. Yet after the seven were down, the leader belted her once. She fell instantly. The world was spinning around her due the drug; she found it impossible to even get on her feet anymore. She was sure this would be her end. Maybe she didn't have to worry about her future after all.

But just as she thought it was over, the man easily cleared his way to Brianna. He pulled out a katana from the sheathe he had hid under his long leather jacket. The blade of the katana had a bright green aura – a color identical to his eyes. He lifted the katana with his left hand, that turned out to be mechanized from his elbow and below. Those were the last things Brianna was able to notice before falling unconscious.

Her next note was the sound of falling rain, even though she wasn't getting wet. She heard a gentle, serene voice calling her name. "Brianna."

A few coughs. Falling rain. "Brianna."

Brianna forced herself to open her eyes. It all was a colorful blur for a moment, but then she saw the familiar face of the Japanese man, even though his face was covered in blood and his hair was flowing free. He had a nasty, fresh wound going across his face, as well as a few wounds on his upper body.

They were still in the same alley. There were couple of dead thugs lying around, but judging by their wounds Brianna noted quickly she hadn't killed them. The man had. The man had protected her while she had been unconscious. Practically speaking, Brianna couldn't have been more wordless. It had been the first time someone had protected her. She couldn't believe that this total stranger had put his life on the line to save her.

"Ah, you are awake," the man smiled.

"Wha... what happened?" Brianna staggered. She still couldn't think clearly.

"They fled. But they will return for you, or your brother."

"My broth...?" Brianna shook. "Bryan!"

She leaped on her feet, but she couldn't find them. Instead, she fell right into the man's arms. "Easy now, Brianna, you're still drugged," he said, catching her softly. "Your brother might be in danger. We need to get to him at once. You do live near around here, don't you?"

"Y... yeah..." Brianna muttered with a blush. It was her first time to be this near a man. She ordered her feet to find the ground and keep her standing so she could stop leaning to the man. As they began walking towards her home, Brianna suddenly wondered how could she trust the man? She knew nothing of him, not even a name, he could be one of the gang members for all she knew.

There was a silent voice in her head that told her she could trust him. It was something in his eyes, she guessed. Besides, he had protected her, hadn't he? No one had ever done that to her before. For the first time in a very long time, Brianna felt grateful. It was a distant feeling, but something she took seriously. She didn't want to owe anyone anything, so sewing the guy back int one piece after getting back to safety was kind of obvious.

Bryan woke up. He heard voices. A male and a female. The latter was definitely Brianna, but who was she talking to? Who around here speaks with this kind of funny accent? No one.

The boy crawled up from under his willow and sneaked into the kitchen door, only to see Brianna talking to a strange man, who was bleeding all over. Brianna's voice trembled slightly; she was upset about something. The man, however, was still and serene, and it lent strength to both Bryan and Brianna.

"You're hurt," Brianna said, studying the man's wounds.

"It is alright," the man replied softly, keeping his green eyes on Brianna's. "I am glad you're not wounded."

"What were they after? What do they want from me and Bryan?"

"They... nevermind. Just don't let them get either you or your brother."

The man swept some flocks of hair and blood away from his face. He happened to look at the door were Bryan was hiding, seeing him. Bryan cringed, but didn't disappear from sight – even though the man looked quite scary, he had the gentlest eyes Bryan had ever seen. The man just looked at him, letting a warm, friendly smile spread on his lips. Finally Bryan came into the kitchen, but he stopped by Brianna's side, taking her by her hand and partly hiding behind her. The man crouched down and kept staring at Bryan curiously. "This must be little Bryan," he said.

"Sis... who's he?" Bryan muttered. Brianna crouched down, caressing the boy's cheek gently.

"It's okay, Bryan," she said. "He saved my life. He's a friend."

If Brianna said someone was a friend, Bryan knew he had nothing to worry about. He was used to Brianna always being right. She had proved his doubts wrong countless times, yet never she had exclaimed "What did I tell you, huh?", because that wouldn't have been reassuring – that would have been getting on anyone's nerves.

Despite he was hiding it successfully, another wave of pain collapsed the man on all fours. Blood was a-drippin' from his face and chest, leaving red stains on the floor. Brianna kicked herself into action and helped the man get up. "Bryan, get me a bowl of hot water, and a piece of cloth," she said. Wasting no time, Bryan climbed onto the kitchen counters and search for what Sis asked for. Meanwhile Brianna tore the man's already devastated sweater off and sat down to study the wounds closer. The man made a few curious notes; seeing him without a shirt made no reaction in her pupils that should've reacted by enlargement for seeing something that would generally awake the interest of females. Another was that Brianna sat down in his lap with spread legs, yet there were no physical excitement involved. As if she had done this every day ever since she was born.

The man couldn't help but silently subdue the excitements he felt around his body. Brianna's tight top didn't leave much to guess. He closed his eyes and leaned into the back of the armchair he sat on, secretly enjoying Brianna's touching, even though she was not from the gentlest end.

She cleaned his wounds and sew them close, even the one that went across his face. Bryan observed carefully, thinking the two looked kinda cute together. He found it odd that the man didn't react to the sting when Brianna's needle pierced through his skin, and came out in a second. Not even when she stitched the cut on his face.

By the time Brianna finished her job by cleaning the wounds with the wet cloth, the man suddenly struck his bright green eyes open, grabbing Brianna gently but sure around her wrist. Even though her arms were very thick, her wrist were as slender as any woman's. She was taken aback for a short while.

"Shh..." the man whispered. "Someone is coming."

Brianna listened with every cell in her body, but she wasn't able to hear anything. Neither was Bryan. The silence was so intense it could've strangled them. But then, two loud bangs from the door pierced it, sending Bryan's heart racing in his throat. Instinctively he wrapped himself around Brianna as she stood up from the man's lap. The man wasn't surprised – he had spotted them miles away.

"Open up!" a male voice shouted from the other side of the door. "Open the door, Brianna! You're hiding a terrorist there!"

Brianna's fingers ran through Bryan's albino hair to calm the boy down. "A terrorist my ass..." she spat, letting her anger show through her face. The man stood up and grabbed his katana from a nearby table. "That figures," he mumbled, more to himself than to Brianna. "I'll have to go."

He looked around to find a way out when Brianna leaned to the wall, studying her fingernails. She waited for a few seconds before reporting the bad news. "There is one, slight problem," she said casually. "That door is the only way out. Not that you'd be in a condition to fight your way through it, anyway."

Deep inside him the man knew she was right. He was tired and wounded; he'd be an easy catch if he tried to fight now. Instead, Brianna balanced back on her feet. "I tell ya what," she suddenly said. "Go hide in Bryan's room. They won't look there."

"How do you know?" the man asked. Brianna stretched out her arms as high as she could, brought them back down carefully and then, suddenly, she tensed every muscle in her arms to bring them out on sight like a bodybuilder she was. She enjoyed the man's gaze on her muscles; even he was impressed. Brianna held the pose with ease, because unlike bodybuilders' muscles, hers were made for working and fighting. Still tensing to show off, she let her lips curve into a murderous grin: "Because I'll KILL them if they do."

The man nodded in approval. Brianna pulled out her field jacket from their sofa and handed it over to the man. "Take this," she said. "It's a cold night. It should fit you."

It fit – Brianna wasn't from the smallest end, even though she was kind of short.

The door banged again, harder this time. It began cracking. "Sis! They're coming through!" Bryan cried out. He looked at his Sis, waiting for the signal he got only after few seconds. She nodded. Bryan took the man by his hand and pulled him towards his room. "This way."

Just as they were gone from sight, Brianna heard the door falling in. There were men coming to play – and she was willing to play with them. Twisting her arms behind her and tensing out her muscles once more, she welcomed the men with a threatening; "I don't remember ordering a pizza..."

There was a deep silence in Bryan's room. His room was unusually clean for being a room of someone of his age. But the truth was that he had very little stuff to fill his room with; a small racing car, a basketball and a skateboard, mainly. The man easily found an open corner to sit down. He leaned into the wall and observed Bryan, who was peeking into the living room. He wanted to see what was going on, but he saw nothing from there. He nervous – and scared. What did those men want, anyway? Bryan knew full well Brianna was able to take care of herself – at least when one on one, but there were three big guys there against her.

"Don't worry, Bryan," the man said softly. "Your sister will be fine."

Bryan closed the door silently and walked to him, feeling still unsure. "I know..." he replied, fighting his fear. "It's just that..."

Suddenly, something caught his attention. The man's left hand – the mechanized hand. For a short moment, Bryan forgot all his fear and nervousness, as he sat down on his knees and took the hand in his to study it closer. "Hey, neat!" he laughed. "Wow! ...what's this?"

"Well..." the man found himself in a lack of words. "Hmm... my hand."

Bryan twisted and turned it, taken aback when he noted the man could turn it 360 degrees around endlessly. "But... it's made of metal, isn't it?" he asked.

"It is artificial," the man replied. "I lost my original hand a few months ago."

"Oh, man!" Bryan cried. "Did it hurt?"

For a short moment, the man was left staring at the artificial hand, sinking into his memories for a while. "Yes..." he said, deep in his thoughts. "It hurt."

Brianna's frustrated voice pierced the silence in Bryan' room. "What, are you deaf or something? I told you, there's no one here except me and Bryan. Now beat it – or should I beat it?"

Bryan turned slightly, his voice trembling with all the sudden fear he felt again: "W-what if they come here?"

The man was still, like a mountain that wasn't wavered by any winds. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll protect you. You're safe here."

Bryan couldn't control himself any longer. He leaped into he man's arms, cuddling to him as if he had been Brianna. He trembled with fear like a leaf in the wind, and tears began to form into his eyes. "I hope you're right," he whispered, clinging on tighter to Brianna's jacket. The man wasn't sure how to react, and his confusedness didn't make Bryan feel any better, either. He couldn't remember being ever that scared. Scared of the men out there, scared of the dark... but what he was the most afraid, was the man chasing him away. Bryan just wanted to be near him; he felt safe there. The combination of Brianna's scent that lingered from the jacket, and the man's stillness were the best consolation Bryan had ever had.

Finally the man laid his hands on Bryan, welcoming him. He allowed Bryan to cry his anxiety as he ran his human hand's fingers through the boy's hair in a similar manner he had seen Brianna do. Allowing Bryan to cry himself to sleep, the man leaned backwards again and closed his eyes. He decided to relax now when he had the chance.

There was one, peculiar thought inside Bryan's mind that moment. He had always wondered about the concept of "father". His friends had fathers that cared and loved them, whereas Bryan remembered his father being cruel and violent. If father truly was someone who loved and cared, Bryan never had had one. Until now. As he felt the man welcoming him, he felt he had a father. The stranger felt like a father should. Deep inside his mind, Bryan understood that this would be the only night he would have a father. He pressed his head towards his chest and closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep.

To be continued...

A/N: Now, was this a long chapter or what? Oo


	13. Fury and the Light of Good Omen

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

The man sings the chorus of the song "Date of Expiration" by Funker Vogt

Chapter 13: Fury and the Light of Good Omen

When he was absolutely sure little Bryan was fast asleep, the man stood up from the floor carefully and laid Bryan on his bed, tucking him in as if he had been taking care of his own son. Voices had faded from the living room where Brianna faced the intruders. Suddenly, the door to Bryan's room opened slowly. The man's mechanized hand grasped the hilt of his katana, waiting for an unfamiliar face to pop in. But as it was Brianna who peeked from the doorway, the man dropped out of his battle stance. "They're gone," Brianna said. "Don't ask how."

"Not when there are children present," the man replied. But then, he noted a sad look on Brianna's face. Now that she was sure Bryan wouldn't see her, she felt like letting out her emotions or she would explode. But as she felt a tear forming into her eye, she quickly turned around and walked out of Bryan's room, shortly followed by the man. Without saying a word, the man laid his hand on her shoulder. "It is alright," he said, softly.

"Is not," Brianna whispered, biting her lip not to cry. "Is definitely not. Why... what... how..."

The man said nothing. He didn't have to. He turned Brianna to face him, and gently embraced her. Normally Brianna would've rejected this kind of closeness, but now she felt too restless and weak to resist the urge to seek comfort. The man felt warm and safe, and he awoke feelings within her – feelings she hadn't even known existed. It was similar to the feeling she felt towards Bryan, yet slightly different... more intensive, in a strange way.

Was this love?

Brianna turned down the thought immediately. It wasn't love. It mustn't be love. She was not born to love; she was born to defend Bryan. She was born to fight. She didn't even have time to love. Besides, the man was obviously reserved. He had been there with a pregnant woman, and Brianna was sure the man was the father of the baby. Once again Brianna left her heart unlistened, breaking out from the man's embrace. "... I can't," she breathed and turned her back again.

"Why do you run?" the man asked.

"I don't."

"Oh yes, you do. You're running from yourself. From your thoughts and feelings."

Brianna shook her head – it was scary that the man read her like an open book, but it was even scarier that the man knew her better than she knew herself. It was as if the man knew everything about her and her life, beginning from the cramped studio in Queens and ending into this very moment. Brianna found herself soon gasping for air as the room began to spin around her. "I... I'll be outside," she said, trying to find her feet again. "I need some fresh air."

She sat down on their porch outside. The man followed her shortly, observing closely as the first drops of rain fell down from the cloudy sky. He took a deep, meaningful breath: "Ah... the gods are in the rain."

He let the raindrops fall down on him, stretching his arms towards the sky to welcome them. Brianna came by his side. The chilly rain truly felt refreshing. She closed her eyes, trying to feel the rain with every part of her body.

"_Did you ever smell the rain, the humidity in the air?_" the man sang softly. Brianna hardly heard his voice. "_Did you ever feel the pain, depending on what you will dare?"_

_The sweetest pain you ever felt, it's fun and desperation. Emotion which you cannot steal – love has no date of expiration._

------------------------

Brianna shivered.

She sat on the sofa in their living room, with her blanket wrapped around her. A sudden fever had taken over her, along with muscle ache and cough. It was part of the poison she got, the man knew to tell – it would cause a normal flu within a few hours. He brought her a cup of hot tea he had made with some assistance from Brianna.

"Just rest a few days, and it'll be gone," the man said. "It's nothing fatal."

"If it doesn't kill, it gives strength," Brianna snickered.

"Yes."

A moment of silence.

"I should go," the man said. "I have... duties to attend to."

He turned to leave, when he suddenly remembered; "Oh – your jacket."

"Keep it," Brianna said. "You're the one going outside, into the rain. You need it more than I do."

"Thank you, Brianna," the man said with a deep bow. "I shall give it back to you, one day."

"If it ain't too much trouble. I never caught your name?"

The man just blinked. "I never gave it."

Brianna nodded. She understood perfectly if the man didn't wish to identify himself. He left, turning off the lights and locking the doors behind him. Brianna finished her tea and laid down under the blanket, soon falling into a calm sleep.

To be continued...

A/N.: This chapter is short on purpose. The following chapters will be longer.


	14. Fury the Frail

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 14: Fury the Frail

Brianna wasn't able to stand up for days. The fever ached her muscles so hard she avoided even turning over in her sleep. So she just lay there, on the sofa, either slumbering or deep in her thoughts. Bryan came and went as he saw fit, being happy about the fact he was now the one in charge. Or at least he was able to imagine so. He was the boss now; it was his job to take care of Brianna and to do the housekeeping, and finally it was he who said the "go to sleep" order.

But just as quickly as the fever had risen, it also decreased. Early one morning Bryan woke up, hearing noises as if someone had cooked in the kitchen. Brianna was making breakfast. Bryan sat down onto a kitchen stool to observe, and to wait for food. He watched his sister grabbing a packet of cereals and pouring some into a bowl, when suddenly a real, living rat fell from the packet and into the bowl.

"Oh..." Brianna staggered. "Morning."

The rat squeaked and ran into the corner of the kitchen counters. Brianna put some cereal into her hand and slowly reached towards the rat. Eventually the rat came closer, first sniffing around in Brianna's fingertips, and then finally sitting down to eat. His tail and whiskers tickled Brianna, who had trouble stifling her laughter. Bryan, however, practically speaking laughed his ass off. When the rat had finished his breakfast, he ran along Brianna's arm to her shoulder, sniffing around her in hope of more food, yet even when none was found, he sat neatly on Brianna's shoulder with no intention of leaving. "We seem to have a new family member," Brianna snickered. "What should we call him?"

A moment of silence.

"Hero," Brianna finally said. But it was more a whisper; a silent thank-you sent to the man that had opened her eyes and helped her reborn in the pouring rain... she was still able to smell the humidity, and hear the man's silent voice singing. Yet she hadn't learned his name. Not that it would've helped much; Brianna hardly would add him to her Christmas card list.

Detective Lei Wulong paid her a visit on her last day of sick-leave. Brianna had kicked her boots off and lounged bare-footed on the sofa, cuddled into a corner with a book in her hands. Her mug of coffee, chilled out a good while ago, lay forgotten on the floor as pages flew by. Upon hearing the doorbell ring, Bryan went to open the door. The relatively tall figure of Lei towered over the young boy, who laid a suspicious glance on him.

"Hello, little Bryan," Lei greeted, his Chinese dialect shining through his speech.

"Hello, no one," Bryan grinned, partly in disgust. Something in this man made him feel sick – perhaps, as he a minute or two later thought, it was because he went too close to Sis. Brianna quit reading the moment Wulong entered her area of sight. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," she spat. Even though it was Lei who had recruited her, she never found it in herself to actually like him. He was too perfect; too modest for being a supercop, too proud for being pushed and too lucky to live – very unlike the man, who would always return into her thoughts.

"Brianna, we need to talk," Wulong went straight into business, sitting down onto a chair near her. "I hear you helped out a terrorist the other night."

Brianna took a sip, almost spitting out the cold coffee. A terrorist, a terrorist, a terrorist – yeah, right, and she was Siddartha Gautama sitting under the Boddhi-tree, meditating her way to Nirvana. Having coughed her lungs empty, Brianna looked at Bryan, who was playing with his toy cars. "Bryan – seen terrorists?"

"Nope," Bryan replied, without giving any of his attention away from the toy cars.

"There you have it."

Wulong sighed – either Brianna had completely brainwashed her younger brother or he actually thought exactly the same way as she did. Suddenly he looked outside from every window, glanced around every corner and then leaned himself closer to Brianna. "You're right – he isn't a terrorist. But I'm afraid it's sort of 'speak of the Devil and Devil appears' thing going on downtown. He made an extreme raid to Mishima Zaibatsu the night you met him... you should see the place, you can hardly find a ball of dust even if you looked. You have seen with him, and I think you may be in great danger."

"Brianna, whatchee talkin' about?" Bryan's clear voice collided with the low tone Wulong had kept up. He could see the look in Brianna's eyes change – she was worried. "Bryan, go to your room," she said. Bryan knew better than to object; he collected his colorful toy cars from the floor and put them back into his hollow toy box. At first, he tried to listen what Brianna and Lei were talking about, but they kept voices too low and silent for him to hear. Finally giving up, Bryan took his pillow from his bunk and laid it into the corner where the man had sat down. He lay down onto the floor, imagining himself back into that night.

"He is identified only by the codename 'Yoshimitsu'," Wulong said, showing a few blurry photos of what could have possibly been any other man than the one that had helped Brianna. "He is linked into the notorious Clan of thieves called the Manji. They're a mean bunch; usually they stick to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but once someone gets on their nerves bad enough... well, they are linked to several assassination cases."

Yoshimitsu... Brianna let the name linger on her dark lips, letting the sweet taste of her savior's name drip from every letter, nay, every sound of it. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel his both physical and mental strength surrounding her, creating the intoxicating feeling of safety and comfort. No other man had ever touched her like that. It felt so... his hands were... it's just that...

Brianna mentally slapped herself as she realized she was aroused by the mere mention of his name. "Brianna, are you alright?" Wulong inquired. "Your cheeks turned beet read."

"I'm fine," Brianna growled, feeling irritated by Wulong's presence, who – sensing this – decided to get on with his businesses and stop bothering her. "Anyway, as I was saying, -" Wulong leaned towards the back of the chair, "Both the police and Mishima Zaibatsu are certain that you are the only outsider who is alive and able to recognize him by his face. He has a fetish of wearing somewhat kabuki-styled masks to cover his face, but there are few physical properties that we are certain of."

"Such as?" Brianna's curiosity burst into flames.

"We do know he's left-handed, and that his left hand starting from below his elbow is high-tech mechanized. He is Japanese – or at least born in Japan -, thus it is no surprise his hair is black. He stands almost 180cm tall, but is lightweight compared to his height. That's about the gist of it."

Brianna could've continued listing those properties forever – she had felt his gentle, bright, unnaturally green eyes roaming her body as she had had the honor to tend to his newly formed scar over his face (Brianna scolded herself for realizing only later on what it had apparently meant), and as he had closed her into a soothing embrace, Brianna had felt his rough sideburns scratching her ear gently. But never, ever she would bring out her feelings. She felt unbearably bad when studying her feelings towards a man, whose woman was carrying their baby under her belt. Yes, another thing she knew about Yoshimitsu the others didn't – he was a father.

"So what is it that you want?" Brianna spat, hatred oozing from every cell of her being. If Wulong was thinking she was going to betray her hero he should seriously reconsider thinking again – and the venomous glare in her eyes told Wulong about as much. Either he was just very stubborn or foolhardy, keeping the pressure on Brianna. She didn't buy Wulong's show of yeah-you're-right-he-ain't-a-villain-I-just-have-to-say-so for one moment.

A squeezing silence landed upon them. Wulong withstood Brianna's homicidal glare at ease, but admitted it was relieving when a flock of Brianna's pitch-black hair brought an end to the staring competition. Grinning her irritation, Brianna pushed the hair back where it came from.

"So you refuse to identify him?" Wulong inquired.

"Does a chicken have a pecker?" Brianna replied.

"Understood."

"About time, too."

Wulong stood up from the chair to leave. "Of course you realize I can't just let you waltz away with this," he said.

"Doesn't matter. Life isn't dancing on roses," Brianna replied, stood up and emptied the contents of her coffee mug into the sink.

"You really should re-consider. Is he really worth loosing your job for?" Wulong stepped over the line – not with what he said, but he laid his hand on Brianna's cheek. Brianna grabbed his wrist with all her strength and twisted his arm behind his back into a painful lock.

"Worth loosing my job for!" she spat, tearing Wulong outside the apartment.

"Worth dying for!" she smacked his head into the wall.

"Worth killing for!" a strike from her knee struck him down.

Wulong was kneeling on the ground, bent over and gasping like a fish. Brianna grabbed him by his fancy ponytail and forced him to look back into her eyes, emphasizing her final words:

"Worth going to hell for."

She smacked Wulong on the ground and returned indoors – not because she had finished, but during her raging, she had suddenly felt all the strength from her body draining away. When she made it inside and closed the door, her legs gave in and she fell on the ground. Her body began shaking violently, bringing out a piercing pain that slowly but carefully consumed every inch of her being. Biting her lip to fight crying for the pain, Brianna crawled on the sofa, lay down and squeezed her pillow into her chest, still shaking. The pain was tearing her off her consciousness, but the sheer fear of the situation kept her awake; what the hell was happening to her?

After the seizure had lasted for about a few minutes, Brianna was no longer aware of what happened around her. She slowly drifted into a light state of unconsciousness, still squeezing the pillow. The shaking ceased gradually, and all there was left was an uneasy slumbering. Due the sudden silence, Bryan dared to come out from his room to see what was going on. He was surprised to see his sister sleeping on the sofa, holding the pillow with her knuckles as white as snow. Carefully Bryan took the pillow from her and put it under her head – she didn't wake. But as she was breathing fine and everything, Bryan was very unsure about what to do... except to lay her willow on her and wait until she wakes.

Brianna slept for a good three hours, until Bryan finally pushed her awake. "Sis, are you okay?"

Feeling like her head would explode to pieces, Brianna slowly sat up, holding her aching head and grinning the pain. She let out a silent moan while Bryan sat down next to her, cuddling her like she would've risen from the death. He sobbed – it was the feeling of relief that got the tears into his eyes. He felt Sis wrapping her hands around him and pressing a gentle kiss into his hair. "What's the time?" she asked after a brief silence.

"Nine PM," Bryan said after a while. Brianna had taught him how to tell the time.

"Then it's bedtime, mister," she smiled, poking him gently. "You've got school tomorrow, and I'll have to go back to work."

... that is, IF she would still have a job tomorrow. Suddenly attacking Wulong didn't seem like it had been a good idea to begin with. Wulong could easily torch her out the place – or worse, order every cop withing hundred miles after her. If that was to happen, she would have to take her and Bryan underground – but it was not something she wanted Bryan to see; prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, murderers... assorted outlaws, that spawned like out of nowhere into those dark areas of town.

No point crying after spilled ammo, Brianna thought and lay back down in her thoughts. Bryan lay down on her chest, pulling the willow on himself. "Bryan, don't you think you should sleep in your own bed?" Brianna inquired.

"Just a little while, Sis..." Bryan managed to mutter before falling asleep. Brianna smiled, closed her eyes and laid her hands on Bryan's back. Tomorrow she would deal with Wulong for good.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	15. Fury the Wretched

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 15: Fury the Wretched

Brianna had hardly laid her bag on her desk when the chief demanded to see her in his office. The chief was ye-average-chauvinist pig with an endless cigar in his mouth, and a VIP membership in the 'Lei Wulong da supercop' -fanclub. His office smelt like an ashtray and on some occasions, even looked like one; neatness wasn't obviously a part of his vocabulary. Not even the fan on the ceiling was any help, since his door was always closed as well as the windows. The fan only rotated the smoke in his room into a spiral-like figure. It was no wonder there weren't anything but plastic plants in his room.

Every day Brianna hoped he would choke to death in his putrid office.

"Fury, Fury, Fury..." the Chief sang. "You really live up to your name, missy. Now give me an excuse not to put your sweet ass behind the bars immediately."

"Because mine is bigger than yours," Brianna muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You're a real smart ass, kid, and I don't like it. Yesterday we sent Wulong over to your place, to remind you of your civil duty to protect America from terrorists. He comes back with his whole body black-and-blue, and with no information about the freaking codename Yoshimitsu! You wanna explain what happened?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Well ain't we cute today, Fury. I tell you what – welcome to the first day of the rest of your suspension."

"Suspension?" Brianna cried out. "For what?"

"Misconduct! Now beat it, before I... -"

Suddenly, the door of his office flew open and Wulong stormed in with a few bandages over his face. "Morning chief, detective Fury..." he said. "Sorry I'm a bit late."

"Don't stress yourself Wulong, I was just sending her sorry ass away from here because of yesterday," the chief grinned.

"Oh, you've got it all wrong," Wulong laughed. "She had nothing to do with this!"

Brianna's eyes weren't far from popping out of her skull.

"She hadn't?" the chief was as disappointed as Brianna was surprised.

"By golly, no way!" Wulong said, sitting down on a sofa that was once black, now gray because of the smoke in the room. "You see, I was on my way to her place yesterday alright, but I fell off the stairs when I decided to take a shortcut through the city park. It hurt quite a bit, so I decided I would head to the doctor's right away, and I kind of forgot about her later that day..."

WHAM! The door of the chief's office slammed shut.

"Why, Wulong?" Brianna growled as she ran after Wulong who had gotten a head-start out. "Why were you covering me? What do you want from me?"

"A little gratitude wouldn't hurt," Wulong grinned without stopping on his tracks.

"Bite me. Cut the bullshit and get to the point."

Lei turned on his heels, nearly bumping into Brianna who was closer than two feet from him. She kept her distance while Wulong sighed, as if all the worries in the world were his. "Derek's dead," he finally managed to say. Brianna raised her brow in a slight surprise. "Your partner?" she clarified. "The one sent after the international mafia?"

"The one and same," he said. "His cover was blown and he was executed... by a thug named Bruce Irvin."

Brianna gasped – she couldn't believe it; _the_ Bruce Irvin that taught her kickboxing? As if he was reading her mind, Wulong continued: "Yes, the very same man that claimed teaching you kickboxing, even though your style differs very much from his. Don't let the timid behavior fool you; he also confessed murdering Derek."

"He got caught already?"

"Confessing isn't always a result of getting caught."

Brianna sat down on her desk. "I still don't understand what the hell this has got to do with me," she said, avoiding all emotion. "You don't need me to ID Irvin."

"Remember the King of Iron Fist tournament I mentioned?"

"Uh-huh."

"They're holding a re-match; the second tournament has already been announced, and Irvin's participating. I'm going in after him."

At the very same moment Brianna understood what Wulong was trying to say – if there would be a second King of Iron Fist tournament, Yoshimitsu would surely be in. Not only Wulong was trying to nail Bruce Irvin, but codename Yoshimitsu as well!

"Don't you dare!" Brianna cried out, leaping from the desk and pinning Wulong on the wall. "Leave him alone! You can hang Irvin by his balls for all I care, but don't you lay a finger on...!"

An awkward silence took over the usually quite noisy office as even the spiders in the corners stopped to look at Brianna's sudden raging. They were used to her somewhat psychotic behavior while arresting criminals, but never ever had she assaulted a comrade before. Relatively quickly Brianna gathered herself together and let go of Wulong. "What're you lookin' at?" she growled at the rest of the crew.

Out of the blue the same, devastating shaking took over Brianna's body again. Without saying a word, she ran into the ladies' room, locking the door after her just before her legs gave in again and she fell on all fours. The shaking threw her body around mercilessly, forcing her to sit down and lean against the cold wall. All she was able to do was to hope the seizure would end before she would lose consciousness once again. Meanwhile Wulong had ran after her. "Brianna?" he called through the door. "Are you alright?"

Knowing her voice would give her condition away, Brianna choose to remain silent. Wulong persistently knocked the door for ages. "Brianna, I'm coming in soon."

As Wulong's lockpick twisted in the lock, the shaking had already ceased and Brianna just sat on the floor, leaning on the wall with her head pressed down. A slight depression had taken over, along with the merciless feeling of weakness. "Brianna... are you alright? You look paler than usual," Wulong inquired, crouching down. Brianna sighed. "I'm fine," she muttered. "Just... a little tired. Could you just leave me be?"

---------------------------------------------------

"Sounds like a somewhat epilepsy to me."

Brianna tied her hair into a loose ponytail and wore her sweater while an illegal organ market owner named Janet Dickinson checked her MEG and X-Ray results. "What's this...?" Janet suddenly gasped. "There's something stuck inside your skull."

"A piece of a beer bottle," Brianna said, noting a pack of cigarettes on the doc's table. "May I?"

"Knock yourself out. You do realize that beer is supposed to be taken internally?"

Brianna took one of the cigarettes and lit it. "So what's the deal?"

The doc took the pics off the wall. "Epilepsy," she confirmed. "A chronic, neurological condition that is characterized by..."

"I mean can you cure me."

The doc sighed heavily and lit a cigarette. "Well, there are known surgical treatments to this..."

"Then let's get on with it."

"It would probably kill you."

"What?"

The doc sighed yet once again. "I can't say for 100 sure, but my guess is that your epilepsy originates from that shattered glass in your head. It could be removed, but since it apparently has been there for quite some time..."

"Two years..." It all came back to Brianna in a single flash; the argument with Cary, Bryan's illness and the sudden pain in her head before everything blacked out. Sometimes she felt it had happened to someone else, like it had been a story she heard, but it times like these the cold truth was once again smacked into her face; she was the one who suffered the pain damage and became a psychopath.

Brianna's eyes lingered through the dark basement that was now a makeshift surgery room combined with a lab and some other rooms you might find in a decent hospital. The doc went on yammering about the dangers of the surgery while Brianna herself was definitely somewhere else. She remembered blasting herself through the basement doors a few months ago, when some weasel had dropped the dime on this illegal institute. The doc was operating a young girl, about Bryan's age, with the girl's mother just far enough to not see the blood. She had learned that the girl suffered of a bad heart condition, and that the mother or her family had not afforded a legal transplant. Brianna had fought her consciousness for a good while before taking out her radio and informing the rest of the crew that she hadn't found anything suspicious. When she had returned to the doc's basement, she had 'kindly' reminded her that she owe her a favor. Besides, you never know when you need allies that work underground.

"As I was saying," the doc said and put out her cigarette. "I would suggest that you try and treat the seizures with a specific medication. There is a black market just around the corner, there is a Vietnamese woman who sells all kind of medical stuff. She's a friend of mine, if I call her I think she can get the pills for you by tomorrow morning."

"How much do they cost?" Brianna breathed out the cigarette fumes. She was already feeling dizzy and the ill-tasting cigarette didn't help it.

"The drug is extremely similar to Valium," the doc explained. "But it's only used in hospitals, so they are very hard to get..."

"How much?" Brianna roared, but withdrew immediately when a piercing pain ran through her head.

"...130 dollars," the doc muttered. "Per bottle."

"Great..." Brianna sighed. "How am I ever gonna afford those bitches?"

"Well, you see, the bottle is not from the smallest end, and you only need to take the pills when the seizure is starting," the doc explained, trying to cheer the depressed patient. "I have a theory about what triggers the seizure. You said it first occurred when you kicked that Wulong out of your house, right?"

"Right."

"And then it appeared when you assaulted him this morning?"

"So what's your theory? I'm allergic to Wulong or something?"

"Tell me how you felt before the seizure started."

Brianna thought about it, seriously this time. She had assaulted him both times, because he had laid a threat on her Hero. She had just stood up to defend him, and... she admitted she had been somewhat upset. No, very upset, to tell the truth. "I was... upset," she admitted, putting out the cigarette. "You think that's what triggers the seizure, huh?"

"Stress and extreme emotional changes are known to trigger different neurological conditions, such as epilepsy and migraine," the doc sat down onto a table to relax her feet. "The pills are able to put an end to incoming seizure, but the best thing you are able to do is to avoid getting upset. You must control your temper, otherwise the seizure is sure to come."

Brianna grabbed her jacket while standing up from the table. "By tomorrow?" she checked.

"Tomorrow morning, the black market two blocks from here," the doc said. "130 bucks, in cash, sharp. Sure you can afford?"

"You worry about the pills, I'll worry about the money, okay!" Brianna growled.

"Tut-tut, the temper!" the doc snapped. "Now remember, Brianna, the less you get upset, the better. I'll call the dealer immediately, you go home, have a bath and relax. Tomorrow morning."

-----------------------------

Brianna was exhausted when she got back home. Every time the epilepsy had occurred, she had felt tired and depressed afterwards. She felt like a useless wreck. Since she didn't own a bath tub, she took a shower, wrapped herself into a warm bathrobe and collapsed onto the sofa, letting a deep sigh escape through her lips. Her thoughts raced; how on earth she was supposed to gather up 130 bucks by the next morning?

"Waaaaait a minute -" she thought suddenly, sitting up. "Wasn't it payday today?" She grabbed the phone from the table and quickly tapped in Wulong's beeper's number. Almost immediately the phone rang. "You beeped?" Wulong's voice inquired. Apparently, he was a little bitter of Brianna's assault, and she understood it perfectly.

"Wulong, listen, I'm sorry about what I did," she muttered, feeling extremely awkward since the feeling of apologizing was as artificial as was the Hero's left hand. "But, uh, do I afford to ask you a favor?"

"I have a feeling you'll ask anyway."

"It was payday today, wasn't it? Could you bring my pay over?"

"Why not come get it yourself?"

"I... feel a little sick, Wulong. You saw me, I'm not well."

"Apparently. I weren't the only one."

"Huh?"

"The chief has ordered you to take a drug test ASAP. He said you act like a junkie doll, and I have to partially agree with him."

"Huh, a junkie? Why don't you ask that smart-ass how the hell could I afford drugs when I can hardly pay our rent, our food, let alone Bryan's school?"

The world took a spin around Brianna, who fell off the sofa extremely loudly. She no longer heard Wulong's voice from the phone, nor Bryan's rapid footsteps as he ran into the living room, only to find his Sis shaking violently on the floor.

When Brianna regained her consciousness the next time, she was staring straight into a ceiling she was sure that wasn't theirs. There was a fancy roof fan spinning silently, and she was lying on a comfortable bed in a comfortable night gown. She was still feeling dizzy, but she couldn't complain. Sitting up to see the room better, she was shocked to see Lei Wulong sitting on a chair, observing her. "You're awake," he said, as if he had been a anesthesia doctor. Brianna was hardly able to whisper his name in her astonishment.

Just then, Bryan walked into the room, and seeing his sister awake he rushed to embrace her, jumping onto the bed next to her. Brianna felt like crying – shedding tears into her brother's short, white hair, but repelled the emotion almost that instant, focusing in soothing the shocked Bryan. "Sis, I was so scared!" he cried, clinging hard into the night gown Wulong had provided her with. "I didn't know what to do, so I asked him to help me!"

"Shh... it's okay, Bryan," she whispered. "It's over now. I'm fine."

Wulong coughed, to get her attention. "When were you going to tell you have epilepsy?" he asked. Brianna shifted uneasily, moving her eyes away from Wulong. She knew she couldn't struggle her way out of the situation; she was tired and weak, even insanely depressed. "I... I wasn't aware of it, until today," she whispered. "After the... incident today... I went to see... a friend of mine, who is a doctor... she diagnosed epilepsy."

Her icy blue eyes met the warm, blue eyes of Wulong. "But, Wulong – you mustn't tell anyone," she said, fear making her voice tremble. "If I lose this job, I can't make enough money to afford our living. You must understand this!"

A tear was making its way towards her cheek, but she was still able to restrain them. Wulong let out a heavy sigh, but then nodded. "I understand," he said, as softly as if he could have triggered her seizures with his voice. "But, you do realize that now that I know, I'm partly responsible, right?"

Brianna shook her head. "No, Wulong, you don't have to-"

"No buts, Brianna," he interrupted a little more loudly. "After I return from the tournament, I will assign you as my partner. That way I can keep an eye on you. You okay with that?"

Brianna sighed, running her fingers through Bryan's hair. "I do not think I have a choice," she said. Wulong nodded in content and stood up. "Good. Now, get some sleep. You pay check's in on the kitchen desk when you need it."

Just then Brianna realized, that she was in Wulong's apartment. Worse yet, in his bed, and probably wearing his ex's night gown, but she was too tired to care, too tired to even grimace in disgust. "Where are you going to sleep?" she felt obligated to ask.

"I have a guest bed. A little less comfortable than my own, but not uncomfortable by any means. And I trust you and your brother fit in just fine...?"

"'Course," Brianna replied, lying back down. Bryan snuggled under the willow, laying his head over Brianna's chest. She wrapped her arm around him and closed her eyes, very soon falling asleep.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N.: Come on, folks, you're killing me. I've uploaded a load of new chapters an no-one's reviewing. Am I that bad?


	16. Fury in Suspense

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 16: Fury in Suspense

With her heart frozen, Brianna waited Wulong to return from the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2. Not even the information that Wulong had defeated Bruce Irvin but gotten defeated by Yoshimitsu could make her heart melt anymore. Wulong filed his report; Bruce was caught but his plane had crashed, leaving no survivors, though his body was never found. Lei suspected Kazuya was behind this.

But that was seven years ago.

Brianna, now 26, lay asleep on her bed. Even though it wasn't even midnight yet, she had had a rough day literally running after drug dealers and pimps. She had even managed to outrun a Chevy van in the dark ghetto allies, which was something not even Wulong himself was able to do. Of course, he was much older than his young partner, Brianna.

Even in deep asleep Brianna was able to hear noises coming from her front door. Forcing herself awake, she listened harder; there was definitely someone trying to come in. Brianna grabbed her Desert Eagle from her nightstand and sneaked towards the door, blending into the darkness in her black tank top and workout pants; only her snow-white skin revealed her whereabouts.

She found herself staring at the silhouette that she saw through the decorative window of the door. Whoever stood at the other side of it was humongous; literally tens of cents taller than her, yet not very broad at his shoulders. He was opening the door with a lockpick or a key, and his hands were shaking so hard even Brianna heard it.

Finally the door opened and the intruder stepped inside. Dropping on her knee, Brianna aimed directly to his head. "Don't move!" she growled. "Let me see your hands."

"Geez, Sis, it's me..." a familiar voice replied and the lights went on. There stood Bryan, a little shaken, with a trash bag full of his clothes thrown over his shoulder. Brianna stood up and pulled her gun back. "Dammit, Bryan," she sighed. "I could've shot you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Bryan was sitting on the sofa where Brianna used to sleep when she came from the kitchen with two opened beer bottles, giving one to Bryan. "You OK, bro?" she asked, sitting down next to him. "Don't you think you should've called first or something before just crashing in?"

"Your phone's disconnected, and your pager didn't respond," Bryan replied, keeping his eyes on the floor. Brianna sighed. "I know," she said. "I've gotta go to that phone-place tomorrow, and my pager was shot. I'm getting a new one next weekend."

The siblings sat together drinking beer for the first time in ages. When Bryan had found himself a girl, he had moved in to her apartment and got himself a job. Brianna had kept on working for Interpol to make her living, yet her salary was hardly enough to pay the rent and her epilepsy pills she still bought from the black market to keep her unsteady condition a secret. She had managed to learn self-restraint, but it wasn't always enough to avoid the seizures.

Bryan took a long sip from the bottle and remained quiet for a few moments. "Me and Caroline broke up," he finally said. Brianna laid her hand over her brother's shoulders to give comfort, knowing it wouldn't help much. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said, this time being sincere. "I thought you had a good thing going on."

"Me, too..." said Bryan and emptied his bottle the instant. "Sis, I need a place to crash."

"Bryan, you know you're always welcome here," Brianna replied, running her nails once again through her brother's silver hair. Even though Bryan was now 16, it still gave the comfort nothing else could provide. Yet something Brianna felt in his hair made her grimace in disgust – she found dirt under her long, black-polished nails. "Bryan, what is this?" she asked. "Have you been sleeping in a graveyard or something?"

"The city park, actually..." he mumbled, letting out an uncontrollable sob. "We broke up a week ago."

A deep feeling of compassion suddenly filled Brianna, and without thinking she closed her dirty brother in a warm embrace. He responded, lying his head on her lap and letting her warm hand caress his cold cheek. "It's alright..." she whispered. "Why don't you take a nice, warm bath and I'll fix you something to eat. Then you're gonna tell me all about it. Deal?"

"Okay," said Bryan and sat up.

---------------------------------

The warm water in the bathtub made Bryan wonder why on earth did he leave his Sis in the first place. He carefully washed every bit of sweat and dirt from his body and hair, scrubbing until he was confident he was pure enough to show himself in front of Sis again. He wrapped a blue towel around his waist to hide his manhood before he stepped out of the bathroom into the combined kitchen-lounge, where Brianna was filling his mug with fresh coffee. There was also a plateful of toasted bread waiting him. He sat down on a chair – the same chair he sat on when he was a kid – and before Brianna even noted, he had devoured half of the bread in an instant. Bryan couldn't remember when he had eaten the last time. For the past week he had lived with some junk he had found from the dumpsters of drive-ins and beer his friends had kindly bought him, so the fresh coffee and fresher toasts were more than welcome.

Brianna filled her cup and sat quietly at the opposite side of the table, watching Bryan devour one toast after another. Only after he reached for the sixth toast, he finally felt his sister's eyes on his face. He looked back, feeling an awkward embarrassment rushing on his cheek in a blush. "You've been living on trash for the past week?" Brianna inquired. "And on beer, provided by Delta and the rest?"

Bryan took one chew more and swallowed loudly. How did she know?

As if she was reading his mind, Brianna chuckled softly and took a sip of coffee. "I'm a detective, you know..." she said. "You were tired and dirty, so you have not had a real place to crash for a good while. You're paler than usual and you've lost weight; you haven't eaten for many days. Yet your stomach is slightly swollen, so you've drunken beer. Am I also right if I presume you came here straight from the Cage?"

The Cage was the meeting club of all the rappers and hip-hop people around the 8 Mile. Bryan had received quite a name of being one of the very few white rappers in there, yet he had more trouble than dollar because of it. The Cage was also a popular trading place for drug dealers. Brianna wasn't too worried – she was able to tell a junkie from a non-addict just by looking at them. This way she had found out that some of Bryan's rapper friends, namely Delta, Edam and Lun, smoked weed. She should've reported drug abuse, but since they planted their own weeds and minded their own business, Brianna had left them alone. The gang actually liked her; they had sat many times together, watching movies, eating pizza and drinking beer, all six of them.

A moment of silence landed upon the siblings. Brianna took a long sip from her mug and began to pick her fingernails. "Go ahead, Bryan. Eat, you're all bones," she said. Bryan continued chewing the toasts, observing Sis. She, too, had changed, mainly because of the amount of scars and bruises on her body had increased. "Are you alright, Sis?" he asked after swallowing the last bits of toast. "You look like you got hit by a cement truck."

"A sledgehammer, actually," Brianna corrected. "Drug dealers have no sense of humor once they find out you're a cop."

Bryan chuckled. No matter how much she got beaten, she always found the humorist side of everything, even if she was glad to have survived. There was a nasty bruise right in her throat, in a shape of a big hand trying to choke her. Someone had even tried to tear her left eye away, leaving a nice, deep scar to the side of it. Whatever had happened, she had fought for her life.

Shivers of cold ran through Bryan's back, almost collapsing him over the table. Brianna awoke from her thoughts, springing up from the chair she sat on to rush to her brother. He shivered violently for a moment, forcing himself still once he felt Sis's hands on his shoulders. "You're freezing," she whispered and fetched a blanket. She wrapped Bryan into it, and walked him into his old room which hadn't changed much since the time he was a little boy. Tucking him in as if he still was the little boy he had been, Brianna sat down on the bed near him and silently caressed his beautiful silver hair that was still slightly wet. "You've had a very rough week, haven't you?" she said softly. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Bryan pulled Sis down next to him and cuddled her, lying his head on her chest. Her body warmth made him feel so much better, albeit a little sleepy, and being once again near enough to hear her heart beat gave the consolation he couldn't even have imagined. He let out a content sigh that triggered a warm smile that appeared on Sis's lips. "Guess not," she muttered.

"I'm tired," Bryan replied. "And I've gotta go to work tomorrow. Think you could give me a ride?"

"You still working at the music record shop downtown?"

"No... that place went bankrupt long ago. I'm at Jimmy's garage now. Pay sucks, but it's better than nothing."

Brianna ran her fingers through Bryan's hair many times, deep in her thoughts. Jimmy's garage wasn't located in a friendly part of the town, and many of its customers had serious troubles with the police. She had paid a visit there many times, as a detective. One customer had been so upset by her profession that she was lucky she wasn't hit by the wrench the customer threw at her. Apparently Bryan didn't either know or care. He snuggled closer to Sis and closed his eyes. "I forgot how good that feels, Sis," he muttered. "Don't stop."

She laid a loving kiss into her brother's hair and kept on running her fingers through it, gently scratching his scalp until he was fast asleep. He breathed calmly against her chest, holding her near as if she would have been the only person left in the world. Sis stayed with her bro for a while, then silently she slipped away. She was halfway through Bryan's room when she heard his voice again. "She said she was pregnant."

Bryan was wide awake, staring at Sis with the saddest eyes she had seen. "But I saw her havin' a drink with some dawg at the Cage tonight. She cheated on me all the time."

Brianna didn't show any emotion, but hearing that made her heart break down in icy pieces. She sighed heavily. "Sleep now, Bryan," she said. "I'll take you to work tomorrow morning."

---------------------------------

After sending Cary's pickup Chevy a-rolling into the river after fleeing from Queens, Brianna hadn't bothered herself enough to buy a car. She didn't even have a driver's license. However, once she had acquired an Interpol badge, she had easily gotten herself a fake license and ID from the selected few counterfeiters she had spared. A _quid pro quo_, one might say. Now she was driving an '83 Oldsmobile along the ghetto streets in the sunrise that was hidden by gray clouds throughout the sky. Bryan was half-slumbering next to her, desperately trying to stay awake. Brianna pulled over at Jimmy's garage to let Bryan out. "Sis..." he suddenly said. "Have you ever thought when you just stop and say, fuck it? When will you stop living in dreams and start living in reality?"

Brianna stared blank at her brother, who turned to look at her. "You've been awake for ten minutes, bro," she replied after a heavy silence. Bryan stepped out of the Oldsmobile and turned to look at Brianna one more time. "Thanks for the lift, Sis," he said.

"I'll come to pick you up at five, if I'm off by then," she replied, and watched Bryan disappear into the garage. She took off into the Interpol office, only to encounter Lei Wulong at the parking zone. "We're in hot water, Fury," he said.

"I'm glad. It's freezing in here," Brianna shrugged. "What is it?"

"Mishima Zaibatsu is attempting to tighten its hold around the Interpol," Lei explained while escorting Brianna to his car. "The leading man, Heihachi Mishima has come all the way from Japan into Detroit, because he wants to see you."

"Why?"

"I was hoping you could answer that. Anyway, he ordered me to bring you over. I doubt they're up to anything drastic until they know you better, but things will get nasty if we stood them up. Get in the car."

Brianna sat down into Lei's car while silently pondering the situation. Yoshimitsu had raided Mishima Zaibatsu's Detroit HQ many years ago and survived the King of Iron Fist tournament that had followed. She is the only confirmed witness who has seen his face. Could it be that this Heihachi would be holding a grudge so strong against Yoshimitsu that he would be ready to go to all lengths to get him? Would he force her to ID him? To capture him? To kill him? Even thinking about putting her Hero in danger made her heart race and breathing grow heavier. She wouldn't do it.

Heihachi was a very cautious mafioso. Brianna and Lei were told to rendezvous his thugs in a distant place, where they were escorted into a limo that had its windows blocked from inside and outside. Neither one of the cops had any idea as to where they would be heading. The thugs that guarded them spoke Japanese with each other and into their radiophones, making sure neither the American Brianna nor the Chinese Lei understood any of their language. "Wulong," Brianna suddenly broke the loud silence. "Who is this Heihachi they're taking us to?"

"Heihachi is the leading mafioso of the Japanese mafia called Mishima Zaibatsu and a world-famous martial arts master," Lei replied, keeping his eyes off Brianna. "Many consider him a gentleman; he truly can use his charm and elegance to impress some, but in reality he is a cold-blooded murderer. He destroys everything he sees as a threat. No one knows much about him, though."

Brianna sighed. She would really like to know her enemy before stepping in into any battle, especially when the situation seemed as desperate as this. She failed to notice that Lei suddenly began staring at her. "You're worried about him, aren't you?" he asked.

"Who?"

"Your Hero."

The mere mention of Hero made Brianna feel even more desperate. She leaned her elbows in her knees, letting her head drop down. "Heihachi knows I've seen his face, doesn't he?" she sighed. "Is this about it?"

"Who knows..." Lei replied, leaning on the sofa of the limo. The limo stopped calmly, and the thugs stood out from the backseat: "We have arrived to our destination."

"Into the belly of the beast, then," Lei said, stepping out.

"And out of Zaibatsu's ass crack," Brianna replied.

TO BE CONTINUED


	17. Bad Luck Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 17: Bad Luck Fury

Brianna stood watching an enormous mansion rise up before her and her colleaque. Its front yard garden reached far behind their backs and cold fall wind howled in its roof and windows. A few dead leaves ran across the stairs that lead into the mansion's main hall that was decorated with all kinds of statues, vases and paintings. Had the mansion been owned by someone else than one of the most dangerous men on earth, Brianna wouldn't have had any difficulties in imagining glamorous dance balls in its beautiful, bright rooms.

"Welcome!" a man's voice echoed from a balcony above them. Brianna turned to look, to see an old man with his armed-to-teeth bodyguards. His hair – or what was left of it - was turning from black to gray due to his old age, and baldness had already taken over the most of his scalp. He caressed his moustache while carefully observing Brianna from this safe distance. He was impressed by the fact that she wasn't afraid to look at him directly into his eyes, nor did she show any signs of fear even though she must have been informed about whom she was meeting. And even though she was wearing a loose hooded sweater, the size of her muscles still was visible.

Heihachi descended the stairs nearby him to greet his visitors. "I have been expecting you. You must be Ms. Fury," he said in his moderate English, shaking hands with Brianna. Now that he was nearer, he saw her face much better; her crystal clear, ice-blue eyes, her dark, full lips and her pitch-black hair were more than enough to bring a smile even on his face. He twisted his lips into a nasty grin and took one more look of her, from tip to toe. "Ahhh... no wonder he grew fond of you," he remarked. "You look just like his ideal of a perfect woman."

Brianna had a principle; she would never pass. Even though she wondered whom Heihachi was talking about, she didn't show it. Lei, however, showed extreme frustration. "I got her here as you told me to," he exclaimed. "Now state your business or let us go."

Heihachi snickered. "Impatient, are we... very well. Follow me."

Brianna and Lei followed Heihachi to the second floor and through the labyrinth of hallways into an armored door. "I will be holding a masquerade to my allies, to celebrate this American Halloween a little more sophisticated way than usual," he declared. "This mansion will be filled with people having fun, drinking, dancing... everybody wears a mask."

"Yeah. So?" Brianna spat.

"A masquerade is an open invitation to one, pesky bunch of con artists, who definitely seek to break into this vault here and steal my property," Heihachi replied, knocking the door. A metallic CLANG-CLANG-CLANG echoed inside the room. "And I want you to prevent that."

"Why us?" Brianna asked, even though she already knew what Heihachi would say.

"Because, my dear Brianna, you are the only one who can identify their leader, codename Yoshimitsu."

Brianna forced herself to chuckle; "I don't know what mothballs you've taken, but I ain't got the slightest clue what're you talking about." She turned and took a few steps away before being stopped by another of Heihachi's gorillas. "I think you do know, miss Fury," Heihachi growled. "Allow me to remind you; seven years ago you encountered a young, Japanese man in the 8 mile ghettos. You were harrased by a gang of thugs – now deceased. You were tranquilized during the battle, but the man made sure you were safe, getting injured at the process. You took him to your home. What happened there is none of my concern, you could've slept with him for all I care, but my interest is in that you know what he looks like. You are able to identify him – and you are going to capture legendary codename Yoshimitsu."

"Seriously, you should get your head or information network checked, 'cause there's something definitely busted in there," Brianna backed up, feeling cold sweat forming on her skin. She knew full well she couldn't walk away from this, but at least she wanted to try.

"Codename Yoshimitsu is the leader of a ruthless clan called the Manjitô," one of the thugs told her, staring at her coldly from behind his dark sunglasses. "The Manjitô is linked to terrorism, burglaries and even assassinations. Bringing their leader into justice would make an end of one of the greatest crime waves ever, but no matter how many attempts there have been throughout the time, he has never gotten caught. The man is, in every meaning of the word, a ninja."

"It's not like I ain't into urban legends, but I'm definitely outtie, 'cause you're a whackjob!" Brianna spat. She turned to leave for good, only to feel the pipe of the gorilla's handgun on her chest. "You're going to help us, miss Fury," Heihachi ordered, his voice now grim and cold. "Yoshimitsu won't walk out of this trap alive, and you're going to make sure of it."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ow! Goddammit!"

Bryan slid from under an old Chevy, holding his sore thumb in his mouth. The old screws in this car had rusted close, and this was the third time in five minutes Bryan had twisted so hard with a wrench that he had accidentally squeezed his thumb in between the sharp edges of the car and the tool. He checked the clock on the wall; there were fifteen minutes before the lunch truck would arrive. Plenty of time to clean the fresh cut in his thumb. He washed his hands at a faucet nearby and covered the cut with a bandaid. While drying his hands, he heard the sharp steps of women's high-heels approaching him. He was surprised to see Caroline standing at the doorway into the garage. "Why haven't you called?" she asked, as if nothing had happened. Bryan grinned in irritation. "What the hell are you doing here?" he spat.

"I'm your girlfriend!"

"The fuck you are. Now get the hell outta here."

"Is it because I said I was pregnant?"

"No, it's because I caught you red-handed, cheating on me."

"Do you freak out because of just one night?!"

"Shut up, Caroline. Fuck off."

Caroline span on her heels, but turned to look at her ex one last time. "Everybody says you're a looser!" she screamed. Bryan sighed, fighting the urge to punch her raccoon make-ups into next week. "Says who?" he finally spat.

"Everybody's talking!" Caroline shrieked. "Everybody knows you lost battle yesterday. How you choked and got booed off-stage!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Bryan roared. Caroline flipped a finger and left, leaving frustrated Bryan alone in the garage. Almost alone. Unbeknownst to both of them, his employer had heard the whole episode. Bryan watched the middle-aged, black man entering the garage with serious suspicion in his eyes. He knew he wasn't in extremely good terms with Jimmy. "What was that about, Fury?" Jimmy inquired. Bryan nervously picked the towel he had dried his hands with while enduring Jimmy's observant stare. "It was... nothing," Bryan finally muttered. "It won't happen again."

"Good," Jimmy nodded. "Don't be brining that shit in here."

After five o' clock, Bryan was standing in the garage's yard, waiting for Sis to arrive. His mind still wandered into yesterday. It was supposed to have been his major show-off in The Cage's rap olympics, but he had been too nervous. He had choked in the first battle he had faced, and – like Caroline painfully reminded her – got booed off the stage. He felt too embarrased to show his face there ever again. That's why he had returned to Sis.

Bryan's friend Delta was the host of the rap olympics. Delta, as well as the rest of their gang, knew Bryan had talent, and they had every faith in him that he would one day defeat the defending champion, known as Don Doe. Bryan knew, however, that being almost the only white rapper participating in the battles didn't make his situation any easier in the business the black dominated.

"Yo, Viper!"

Hearing someone call his nickname, Bryan awoke from his thoughts. He watched Delta approaching him, his dreadlocks swinging along his steps. "Hey man, what up?"

"Waitin' for my slow-ass ride..." Bryan replied, lighting up a cigarette. "They propably got Sis doin' their shit for them."

"Heh, your Sis a real Dirty Harriet, eh?" Delta snickered. "But listen, there's another battle goin' on next Friday and I'm signin' you up."

"No, man, don't. I don't think I could..."

"Look, Viper, you've gotta battle. After you've shown your skill, they don't care what color you are. You battle next Friday, you flip the script, and blow that Don Doe's brains out for good."

Bryan nodded slightly. Deep inside he knew Delta was right; if he quit now, he would always be remembered as a loser. After a short silence, Delta brought up another question. "So, what're you gonna do tonight?"

Bryan exhaled the cigarette smokes from his lungs. "I'm gonna work on my demo tonight," he said.

"Your demo? What, you can afford studio time?"

"What do you think I save my money for?"

"Oh, man, that's great. Your Sis already know?"

"Nah, she's been busy lately."

"Can hardly blame her, dawg. Just look at all the shit we live at. I mean, how can we take pride from our neighborhood with stuff like that lying around?" Delta pointed at a half-collapsed abandoned house nearby. "All the junkies and other shit stay there to avoid the cops. And are the cops allowed to go there? No siree, that'd be trespassing."

"Sis is chasing a little more relevant bastards than our local shitheads," Bryan remarked and put out his cigarette. Just then, he heard police sirens, and only a moment later a sedan Dodge crashed into a neighboring wall near the garage. The driver and a passenger jumped quickly out of the car and continued their escaping by foot. Bryan pulled quickly Delta out-of-sight and waited 'till the thugs had passed them. "It's that fucking steroid monster," the driver groaned to the other suspect. "Shit, she packs a wallop. What're we gonna do?"

The passenger pulled out an automatic Uzi from his bag and hid it under his jacket. "This'll stop her. Now move!"

They escaped into a narrow alley just in time to avoid a police car and a familiar Oldsmobile that had been following them. Bryan saw his Sis jumping out of the Oldsmobile and continuing pursuit running after them. "Come on man, let's go!" Bryan turned to go after Sis.

"Man, are you crazy?" Delta stopped him. "We can't interfere!"

"I don't care. That fucker has an Uzi!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Brianna had no difficulties in outrunning the two criminals. The driver was badly out-of-shape; after a minute he wasn't able to run anymore. Brianna's partner remained with the driver as Brianna ran after the last one. Bryan arrived soon to the scene. "Where'd she run?" he asked the officer that had cuffed the suspect and was taking him into the car. "Who're you?" the officer asked.

"Name's Bryan. Bryan Fury, I'm her brother. Where did she run?"

"She ran after the suspect, but I don't think you should... hey, wait! Come back!"

Bryan had already ran after Sis. It didn't take too long before he heard rapid gunshots. For a brief moment, Bryan froze – it was as if his heart had stopped beating for a few seconds. He was afraid of what he might see once he would catch up with Sis, because suddenly it became very clear to him what dangers she faced in her work.

As the bullets came flying toward Brianna, she took cover behind a sturdy trash bin. She heard the bullets being deflected from its thick surface, yet something else caught her attention that instant. There was something warm and wet running down her right shin towards her ankle. Her camo pants had a blood-stained bullethole – one of the bullets had hit her. A sharp pain ran through her, but her years of training in self-restraint hadn't been in vain. She loaded her Desert Eagle and forced herself on her feet, peeking from behind the trash bin only to trigger another hail of bullets. "Fucking cop!" the shooter roared. "You steroid monster, eat lead!""

Brianna ducked behind the dumpster, wondering how many bullets can one Uzi carry and how many clips would he have with him. Normally, once she would hear he was loading his Uzi, Brianna would use the slight pause in the fire and attack right away, but she knew the pause wouldn't last long enough for her to attack with her injured leg. Sadly, she was running out of options.

The shooter quickly loaded his Uzi and continued shooting at the dumpster. He failed to notice a dark shadow that came closer from behind him, untill it was too late; Bryan grabbed him around his neck and threw him against the wall. The Uzi flew from his hand in a neat arc into the ground. As the shooter gathered himself together, Bryan was already on the move, digging a hard right hook into his guts and crushing his chin with another right hook that was quickly followed by left downward hook in his forehead. The shooter keeled over into the ground, but Bryan hadn't finished yet. He jumped down, mounting the shooter's chest and began maniacally punching him. He felt he could explode in his anger; this bastard had shot at Sis, injured her and who knows what else.

Suddenly someone grabbed Bryan's right wrist gently but firmly. He turned to look, to see Sis standing there, as calm as ever even though she had had a bullet piercing her leg. "I think he's done," she said. Hesitantly Bryan abandoned his prey and handed him over to Brianna, who drew her Desert Eagle and aimed at the shooter's forehead. Kicking him slightly to his arm, she caught his attention. "Get up," she growled. "Get you ugly ass up the ground, or I'll finish you right here and now."

The shooter surprisingly managed to get up, and even walk after Brianna had cuffed him and escorted both the suspect and her brother back to the others. Her partner wasn't very pleased at the sight. "Jesus, Brianna! I said bust him, not waste him!"

After the paramedics had bandaged her leg, Brianna sat on the hood of the Oldsmobile, drinking coffee. Her chief had arrived on the scene, and he was less than pleased. Bryan wasn't there with them, but he was able to hear everything they said. The chief threatened Brianna with everything possible and impossible for this violent episode. Apparently, he had guessed it was Bryan who beat the suspect, not Brianna. "His attorney will definitely sue you for this!" he roared. "Not that I care, but he might as well sue us because you didn't stop your idiot brother from beating him up! You're gonna be suspended for the rest of your life, Fury!"

"You've got it all wrong, chief," Brianna suddenly said. "It was I who beat the guy up. Not Bryan."

Bryan gasped – she was taking the responsibility of all this. Chief burst out in as fat laughter as he was. "Oh, so now YOU'RE the one who's taking all the blame! How noble, Fury. Well, I believe the suspect will be more than glad to tell us what happened there."

"He was on drugs," Brianna remarked. "His statements cannot be verified. The only one there beside me was the suspect."

"Your partner said he saw your brother running after you."

"I saw him when I was on my way to take the suspect back to the others."

The chief turned to Bryan. "Is this true?"

Bryan hesitated – if he would say yes, he would be bringing massive charges on Brianna, and if he told the truth, both he and Brianna would get charges. He briefly looked his sister in her eyes, and nodded slightly. "Yeah... that's what happened," he muttered, bringing the chief on the brink of frustration. "Listen now, you little piece of shit – If you get caught from a lie, I'm gonna beat your ass up so hard you won't get hard-on for weeks!" he roared at Bryan.

"Hey!" Brianna growled. "You talk like that to my bro and you'll have nothing to have a hard-on!"

Delta chuckled. He was standing slightly apart from the growd, but he heard everything. The chief turned to Brianna. He was definitely going to say something, but he suddenly found himself in a loss of words. Brianna's cold eyes froze him completely. After he had managed to gather enough courage, he told Brianna to have the rest of the day off and the others to return downtown. The growd scattered, leaving only the siblings and Delta standing near the Oldsmobile. "Sis, why did you tell him you did it?" Bryan had to ask.

"Because I don't have a future waiting for me," Brianna replied casually. "You, however, are going to study and get yourself a real job and lead a real life. And to do so, you're gonna stay out of trouble!"

She gently poked his brother to stress her last words. "Now let's go home," she declared and stood up from the hood. Bryan turned slightly, "Can you drive?" Brianna just smiled and sat down in the car, initializing. Bryan was just about to follow, when Delta tapped his shoulder. "Next Friday, Viper," he said. "Be there."

"Okay. See ya," Bryan replied and sat inside the car. Delta continued his strolling.

TO BE CONTINUED


	18. The Way Fury Is

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

"The Way I Am" is (C) Eminem

Chapter 18: The Way Fury Is

_No patience is in me and if you offend me I'm lifting you ten feet  
In the air, I don't care who was there and who saw me just jaw you  
Go call you a lawyer file you a lawsuit  
I'll smile in the courtroom and buy you a wardrobe  
I'm tired of arguing - I don't mean to mean but it's all I can be  
It's just me _

Brianna walked an angry circle in a room Heihachi had provided her to change into a wee bit more formal suit than her camo pants and t-shirt. She shook all over in a combination of devouring rage and the beginning of seizure. Heihachi stood at the other side of the room, his arms crossed on his chest. Every cell in Brianna's body felt the increasing hatred toward him; she was so ready to kill him that she felt something in her was ready to explode into pieces. She wanted to throw herself at him, tear his eyeballs out with bare hands and bite his throat open. She wanted to suck his blood out or just leave him to drain till death.

"Miss Fury..."

"SHUT UP!"

"... please hurry up."

"I SAID SHUT YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN' MOUTH!"

His presence was driving her crazy. Hadn't she been unarmed before entering the mansion again, she would already have shot his brains out. This son of a bitch actually thought she would betray the Hero. It was like trusting a dog not to shit on a carpet. Ridiculous! Pathetic! Just so fucking stupid.

"The ball is starting soon," Heihachi reminded, ignoring her threats. "Yoshimitsu will be one of the first guests, I should think. I trust you remember your part of the plan. I want him preferably alive, but if he's dies, it can't be helped."

This sent Brianna flying through the air with the loudest, most violent scream, aiming directly to tear his eyes out and eat him alive. A blind fury engulfed her – all she could think was the killing, Heihachi's blood staining the whole room, his guts hanging from the stupid dress he had brought to her, his flesh squeaking in between her teeth.

Unafraid, Heihachi waited till the last moment and lifted his hands in front of me. Horrific Demon Breath shot Brianna on the wall behind her, and she landed painfully on her stomach onto the ground. For a moment she was sure her spine must've broke due the impact, but as Heihachi lifted his wooden sandal on her back and pressed her hard toward the ground, she was sad to realize she still had feeling left in her body. "An advice, young lady," Heihachi growled, pulling her hair to make her look into his eyes. "Next time, be ready to fight."

He smashed her head back into the ground and left her gathering herself together. When he arrived into the hallway where he had left Bryan waiting for his sister, he saw the boy pulling out the speakers from his ears. The slight noise of rap music from the speakers irritated him more than Brianna's futile attempted murder. "Give her a moment to change," Heihachi smirked and went on his way. Bryan shrugged and put the speakers back on, loosening a bit a tie Heihachi had borrowed him. Heihachi had invited Bryan to the ball as well – out of politeness, as he had said, but Brianna knew he was his insurance; should she betray Heihachi, he would kill Bryan.

It was the first time Bryan and Lei saw Brianna wearing a dress; a beautiful, black tulle skirt and a night blue, silver-decorated corset with long, lace gloves covering her arms. One of Heihachi's assistants had tied Brianna's hair up high – she looked like a Gothic princess. The only thing that didn't seem to fit into the picture was her lower lip that was still violently bleeding. "Oh, shit – Sis!" Bryan exclaimed. "You alright? What happened?"

"... I fell," Brianna replied. Never ever she would say she tried to kill Heihachi, and failed this miserably. It was one of those moments of sudden realizations, since now she had a clue what was the Japanese hara-kiri, "honor suicides", all about. She swept the blood from her face with a piece of paper Lei gave her. "Let's get on with this," Brianna said, tossing the paper away and putting on the Cleopatra mask she was provided with. "I ain't have the whole day."

Still, she was at the brink of losing whatever sanity she was left with. Her whole body ached, she would have to betray the Hero, but what got to her the most was how easily Heihachi had defeated her. She still wanted to kill her, rip his insides out and leave him hang out to dry, but she knew she never could. She wasn't even a challenge. What good were her skills and strength now, when all her enemies had out-classed her? Even more so, she felt she had been living in an odd dream that she had known what she was doing: she had swept the floors with the everyday thugs with machine guns, she had given Wulong a whoop-up (well, he didn't make any resistance, but still...) and she had swept the very bravest off their feet with one, single glare. All that, just so someone could bring her down hard and fast in a less than a second.

_Do not come and speak to me  
I don't know you, and no, I don't owe you a motherfuckin' thing  
I'm not Mr. NSYNC, and I'm not what your friends think  
I'm not Mr. Friendly _

_I can be a prick, if you tip me my tank is on empty _

When the ball began, Brianna just sat in a corner trying to gather whatever pieces of confidence she might find. Her mind always returned into the defeat. She had assaulted with all her strength and Heihachi pushed her back like she had been a rag doll. She was dying to get herself smashed and wake up next morning in the worst hangover ever (or better yet, not waking up at all), but the catering service refused to serve alcohol to the cops in duty. To say she was depressed would be the understatement of the year.

To make things worse, one of the guests decided to have a seat next to her, even though there were plenty of free seats all over the main hall. Like every other guest, he was wearing a mask and a formal suit – in this case, a somewhat army officers' uniform -, but he also was carrying a sheathed sword with him, and had his relatively long, pitch-black hair tied into a tight, neat ponytail. Brianna just tried to ignore him. She just stared at the floor.

"A nice party, isn't it?" the man chatted up.

"Yeah... whatever."

"So, what business do you have with Heihachi since you're here?"

"... kinda like hired security."

"Ah, so you're on duty?"

"Sort of..."

The orchestra began playing another piece.

"Would you dance with me?" the man asked.

"I ain't in the mood."

"Come on, it will be fun."

The man pulled Brianna up from the chair and dragged her to the dance floor. "No, seriously, I can't dance!" her attempts were futile. The man pulled her near him, even nearer when laying his right hand on her lower back. "Of course you can," he said. "Every martial artist can dance."

"H... how did you know I...?"

Brianna never got the chance to finish her sentence, because the man had already pulled into the rhythm of the music. He was a good dancer; even though Brianna had never danced, she felt all she had to do was follow along – the man would lead her. It was a feeling quite similar to battles; intuition would tell her what to do, and her body would just follow.

A dance after another made Brianna forget about the bitter defeat. She actually began to enjoy the feeling of the man's leather gloves in her lower back and her hand. But there was this odd feeling inside her – a feeling she had seen this man before. There was something familiar in him, too unfamiliar to see, too familiar to point a finger at. The man smiled at her.

She smiled back.

Meanwhile, Bryan was lurking at the catering table. He wasn't into these kind of snooty balls, he preferred drunken evenings in The Cage to this whenever asked, and would have died of boredom had he not brought his c-cassette player with him. It was relatively easy to hide the speaker cables inside the tuxedo, and no one seemed to note the speakers in his ears, either.

Suddenly, he felt someone grabbing him by his shoulder. Turning to look, he saw Heihachi standing behind him. Bryan took off the speakers again. "Who is your sister dancing with?" Heihachi inquired. Bryan turned to look, out of pure amazement; Brianna was _dancing_ with someone? He also looked at the masked man with the sword – having no idea who could that be. "Dunno," Bryan replied to Heihachi. "Ain't seen 'im before."

Heihachi grinned in disgust; Bryan's ghetto accent made him feel sick. He walked away, cursing the youngsters of these days in Japanese. Bryan shrugged, put his speakers back on again and continued enjoying hip hop music and the edible part of catering.

A slow waltz played in the air. Brianna and the man danced very close to each other, almost in an embrace. She had almost completely forgotten about her mission, and the way she enjoyed the company of this man didn't even remotely remind her of it. She hardly remembered the other guests around them, either. They hadn't spoken for a while, but suddenly, the man whispered softly in her ear, "Has it really been seven years, Brianna?"

Brianna gasped – how did he know her name?

"Keep dancing," the man said, still keeping his tone low and soft.

"Who are you?" Brianna whispered.

"You know who I am. You know it better than the most."

Suddenly, the match lighted up. "Yoshimitsu...?" Brianna whispered. A warm smile crept into Yoshimitsu's lips. "You've found out my name, I see," he said. "I believe you've studied my history further than that, as well."

Brianna wasn't sure how to react. Her heart was pounding hard with joy, her eyes grew wet out of the very sight of the Hero, but she knew what would lie ahead her. She would have to fight him. She would have to capture him. If she wouldn't, Heihachi would definitely harm Bryan. In all probability, even kill him. She had hoped Yoshimitsu wouldn't be there, but there he was, right in front of her, dancing with her like there'd be no tomorrow. There were tears in her eyes, but she forbade them to fall down her cheeks.

The orchestra finished their waltz. Yoshimitsu bowed deep to Brianna. "Thank you for the dance, Miss Fury," he declared. "I had the most wonderful time, but I'm afraid I'll have to return to my own tasks."

"Yoshimitsu, wait...!" Brianna breathed, but he was gone before she was even able to note it.

_And all of this controversy circles me  
And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me  
So I point one back at 'em  
But not the index or the pinkie or the ring or the thumb  
It's the one you put up when you don't give a fuck _

"Yoshimitsu, wait...!"

The name of the target caught Heihachi's attention immediately. Brianna's voice hadn't been loud, but Heihachi had an excellent hearing. He turned to look, to see Brianna standing in the middle of the crowd without her escort. She was left staring after someone for a moment, as if this someone had taken her heart with him. As a matter of fact, that was the case. Brianna sighed and turned, almost bumping into Heihachi. "You missed your target," he growled.

"Mr. Mishima..." Brianna gasped.

"You missed your target," Heihachi repeated. "It would be shame if something happened to your brother tonight, wouldn't it?"

Brianna fought the urge to punch his teeth into his throat, with the fact that he would've killed her before she had even made a fist to punch with. Instead, she nodded obediently and went after her target, feeling more powerless than ever. She felt her only hope was that Yoshimitsu would kill her, and Heihachi would spare Bryan because she died trying, but something inside her told her Yoshimitsu would never kill him. He wouldn't even fight her, in all probability. And even if he would, he wouldn't harm her. He was something Brianna had dreamed about, after receiving appetite for the first time in her life. It happened the evening she met Yoshimitsu the first time. For seven years, Brianna had secretly dreamed of him. In her dreams she had kissed him, slept with him in the most beautiful places, felt his hands all over her body and his lips on hers, but every morning she had scolded herself for such imagination, reminding herself that Yoshimitsu already had a woman. Yet her dream had always been Yoshimitsu. No other man had awakened feelings anything like he had, but in a way it was very logical – he was the Hero. He had saved her life. He had finally made her feel like a woman by except comforting her when she needed it the most, by taking care of her when she had been powerless.

Brianna saw couple suspicious men with swords leaving the main hall further into the mansion. They weren't Heihachi's thugs; they were very sophisticated and slick compared to Heihachi's GI Joe hut-hut-hut gorillas. They had to be Yoshimitsu's soldiers. Brianna followed, but before entering the hallway the soldiers were to, Brianna took of the Cleopatra mask and sighed. "Please, Yoshimitsu..." she muttered. "Promise you'll kill me, if it comes to that."

_And I am   
Whatever you say I am  
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?   
In the papers, the news, everyday I am  
Radio won't even play my jam_

Cause I am  
Whatever you say I am  
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?  
In the papers, the news, everyday I am   
I don't know it's just the way I am 

Bryan got bored of the only cassette he had brought with him. He took off the speakers for the one last time and hid them into the same pocket with the player. He wondered how long would they still spend their time in this stupid ball and decided he would go ask Sis if they could go now. But upon turning around, he froze. For a moment he thought he was staring into a mirror. A young man exactly of his age was standing there, looking directly into his eyes. They looked very much the same, but instead of silver hair and ice blue eyes, he had pitch-black hair and bright green, oriental eyes. "Mr. Fury, I presume?" the guy asked, in a less-than-moderate English. In all probability, he was Japanese.

"Y... yeah?" Bryan staggered as more men appeared beside them.

"Ah, finally!" the guy sighed in relief. "Father said to look for the guest with headphones on, but it's crowded in here. Please, come with us, sir."

One of the guy's gorillas grabbed Bryan by his arm, hard. Bryan grimaced in pain. The guy spat something in Japanese to the gorilla, which let go of Bryan immediately. "What is this?" he asked, holding his aching arm. The guy came beside him, laying his arm over his shoulders in a buddy-buddy-type. "We believe you are in danger," he whispered. "Have you been told why you are here?"

"Yeah, it's Sis's boss or something holdin' a Halloween party," Bryan replied.

"You've been lied to," the guy told. "Heihachi Mishima is not your sister's boss. He runs an international mafia called Mishima Zaibatsu, and he ordered your sister to capture or kill our leader, or he will kill you. Come with us, we will get you out of here."

"Now hold on a sec!" Bryan growled, pushing the guy further away. "What do you mean, kill your leader? Who the fuck are you guys?"

"We mustn't identify ourselves as long as we are inside this mansion," the guy replied. "Please, Bryan, you'll have to trust us. We will take you by force if we have to."

"Shut up. I ain't goin' nowhere!"

The guy sighed, and then said something in Japanese. Immediately the gorilla grabbed Bryan by his both hands, and the guy took a small needle from his pocket. "This is tranquillizer," he said. "Perfectly harmless, its only effect is heavy tiredness within seconds."

Bryan wasn't able to make resistance. The guy injected the tranquillizer swiftly and laid Bryan's hand on his shoulders. He carried him away with his gorilla, and those guests who saw them thought they were dragging a drunk away. Once outside the mansion and its yard, they took him inside a van they had come with and laid him onto a bunk that was inside. Bryan was still conscious, but right before falling asleep he heard the guy speaking to his gorillas: "Father said to guard him with your lives. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the gorillas replied in a choir. The guy leaned over Bryan and looked him into his eyes. "Don't worry," he said."Everything will be fine. Let us Manjitô handle this."

The insane tiredness forced Bryan's eyes close, and he fell into a deep slumbering.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	19. The Light That Soothes the Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 19: The Light That Soothes the Fury

Yoshimitsu's ninjas were efficient. Brianna stood at the door frame of the empty vault that had its metallic doors blown into next week. Yoshimitsu and his soldiers had been away from her eyes for what, five minutes? Ten, tops. She heard a door open and close, and saw Wulong coming to next to her to witness the most swift burglary they both had ever seen. Wulong wasn't as astonished, though. He had seen Yoshimitsu's signature before. He scratched his head slightly. "Heihachi's going to kill us..." he muttered. "I can't believe it. I didn't spot Yoshimitsu at all."

Brianna bit her lip. Now what? Give up? "We'll have to find them," Brianna said. "Heihachi will kill Bryan if I don't at least try to capture him."

She lifted up the hem of her skirt to reach the Desert Eagle she had hid beneath it. Wulong enjoyed the view for a brief moment, until Brianna let the hem back down again and loaded her pistol. "I'm going after him."

"You know you're no match for Yoshimitsu," Wulong reminded her. "And even if you found him, how do you convince Heihachi you didn't voluntarily let him go?"

"That's easy," Brianna remarked. "Yoshimitsu will kill me."

She stopped to dwell on her thought for a brief moment, imagining Yoshimitsu's green-glowing sword piercing her heart or striking her head off... oddly enough, she was comfortable with the idea. Or perhaps he would use a more sophisticated measure, such as poisoning her swiftly during their struggle or cutting an important artery. It didn't matter, as long as it was Yoshimitsu.

Wulong, however, objected. "That's plain ridiculous, Brianna!" he cried out. "Come on, think about it! Who would look after Bryan if you died?"

"He's 16. He's able to take care of himself by now."

"Besides, even if you died and 'proved Heihachi you tried', it doesn't mean he would let Bryan go."

"That's where you come in," Brianna turned to face him. "I'm counting on you to get Bryan out of here, and you go do so immediately. Understood?"

With that, Brianna kicked off her high-heels and ran where she thought Yoshimitsu could be headed; the roof. All the entrances of the mansion were guarded; they couldn't escape through those with their newly claimed prize. The roof was the only logical exit. Brianna ran up the stairs leading to the roof, but at the end of it there was a heavy, metal door blocking her way. It was locked tight, and it was too heavy for Brianna to kick open. How on earth could Yoshimitsu have opened it?

Brianna studied the door closer, and noted that the keyhole was old and slightly rusty, but there were scratches all over it. Yoshimitsu had picked the lock. Brianna pulled out the hairpin that was holding her hair up and used it to pick the lock. The lock finally gave in, but it had devastated the makeshift lockpick. Brianna discarded it and opened the door carefully. She saw Yoshimitsu with three of his soldiers standing there, fastening a rope into a rail at the edge of the flat roof. The soldiers took their treasure bags and began descending from the roof. Obviously Yoshimitsu would be the last one to leave the perimeter. Brianna sneaked closer, and when she was about thirty feet from him, she cocked the Desert Eagle. "Freeze."

Yoshimitsu, now unmasked, turned to look at her with his bright green eyes. There was no astonishment, no fear, no aggression in his gaze. He was still and serene even though there was a gun aimed directly in between his eyes. His hand didn't reach for his sword, he wasn't preparing himself for a battle. He knew exactly what was going on – and he knew Brianna wouldn't shoot him. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I can't let you go."

"May I ask why?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"That bastard Heihachi will kill Bryan if I did," Brianna replied. "I'm begging you, don't let that happen. Bryan means everything to me."

"Your brother is being protected, you may put down your weapon, Brianna," Yoshimitsu told her, but she just shook her head; "I'm sorry, I can't take that chance. You'll have to kill me if you want to leave."

Yoshimitsu sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He took a step closer to Brianna... then another, and another, and another... "Don't come any closer!" Brianna warned, shaking with fear. Yoshimitsu continued walking, until there was an inch between him and the barrel of Brianna's Desert Eagle. He kept staring at her eyes – eyes that showed everything Brianna felt inside; fear, sadness, anger... the emotions struck her like a wave of an ocean strikes a stone in a shore. He felt sorry for her. He laid his hand over her weapon, then gently but firmly pressed it down. "You wouldn't shoot me," he said softly. "As I wouldn't kill you. You know that, Brianna."

Brianna had a full job in holding back her tears. The weapon dropped down from her hand. She couldn't do this. She just couldn't. She couldn't fight the Hero. She couldn't even think of killing him. After all he had done for her, it would be snowing in hell before she would do anything to harm him. But she felt she had to do something, anything... she would have to fight him. She squeezed her left hand into a fist and prepared herself.

A sudden change in her eyes caught Yoshimitsu's attention. He raised his hand to block her punch just in time. Brianna took a few steps backwards, shifting her herself into her battle stance. "Please, Yoshimitsu..." she begged. "Kill me."

Yoshimitsu's hand reached for the belt that was holding his sword sheathe. He opened its buckle and dropped his sword onto the ground. He had no intention of using it against her. "I'm sorry, Brianna," he said while acquiring his battle stance. "I will make this as painless as I can."

Once close enough, Brianna launched an armada of punches towards Yoshimitsu, who blocked them all with ease. She didn't even intent to hurt him, she just wanted to poke enough to make him kill her. He, however, stayed defensive. Brianna punched, kicked and swept like a maniac, but Yoshimitsu either dodged or blocked every move she made. Finally, when Brianna sent a hard Mach Breaker towards his gut, he parried it and tackled her hard, sending her flying backwards onto the ground. It was her reflex that got her up immediately, only to drop down again when Yoshimitsu swept her off her feet. "Harder, strike me harder!" Brianna screamed in her mind while standing up from the ground. She lunged towards Yoshimitsu, just like she had thrown herself at Heihachi, hoping for a similar result. The result was way less than she had expected; Yoshimitsu guarded himself from the impact, only so Brianna would drop hard down on the ground again. The constant impacts of the ground began to hurt her more than whatever strikes she received from Yoshimitsu. She continued her futile attempts for some time, until Yoshimitsu once again parried her strike. This time he countered with an insanely powerful blow into her stomach, sending her flying through the air onto the ground.

This was where Brianna felt her edge was. There she was, lying on the ground, holding her stomach when she realized she had lost. Not purely intentionally, though. She had tried. But she no longer had the strength to get up from the ground. It was very brilliant tactic Yoshimitsu had used; he let her tire herself before giving the one, finishing blow. Brianna admired his skill and wisdom he had showed her. It was an honor to be defeated by him.

Yoshimitsu crouched down beside her. His human hand caressed her face, and he gently lifted her up from the cold ground. "You got me," Brianna whispered. "Do what you have to do. I'm ready."

Yoshimitsu sighed. He held Brianna in his arms, letting her head rest towards his chest. They stared at each other for a while. Brianna enjoyed sinking into his hypnotic eyes, just admiring their exceptional color... but suddenly she realized that he was lifting her head closer to his. His mechanical hand ran through her hair once or twice, before lifting gently her chin up a bit. Finally he laid his lips on hers, kissing her. At first, it was gentle, as if she had been something so fragile he was afraid he might break. What Brianna failed to note was that he pulled a needle from his pocket. It was when the needle sank into her neck she noted it. She tried to move, but Yoshimitsu tightened both his hold and his kiss. The gentle peck became a passionate kiss, and it lasted until Yoshimitsu pulled out the empty needle from her neck and put it back in his pocket. A tear ran down Brianna's cheek. She had said she was ready... she truly had believed she was, but now when she thought her death had been sealed... she wasn't so sure any more. She was thankful that Yoshimitsu had hid his finishing blow into a loving kiss, but she couldn't help herself from crying.

But suddenly, Yoshimitsu dried the tear off her cheek and laid another kiss, this time on her forehead. "You know I wouldn't kill you," he whispered. "It wasn't poison, it was anaesthetic. You will sleep for a few hours. And as for your brother, I ordered my men to get him out of Heihachi's reach. He is safe."

A great relief shot through Brianna's mind – of course, why hadn't she thought of it? Losing to Yoshimitsu didn't necessarily mean dying on the spot. She enjoyed the sleepiness that began slowly taking over her body, but even more she enjoyed feeling Yoshimitsu caressing her hair. He was still holding her in his arms; apparently his idea was he would leave only after she had fallen asleep. That made Brianna struggle against the anaesthetic; she wanted to be there as long as she could. She knew that once she would close her eyes, she would never see him again. But perhaps it would be better that way.

Before long, Brianna's eyes closed and her body relaxed. Yoshimitsu laid her carefully on the ground, making sure she would be as comfortably as possible. He hated to leave her there like that, but he knew someone would come get her soon. He stood up, picked up his sword and grabbed the rope that was still fastened into the rail. He took one, last look at Brianna before descending and escaping with the rest of his men.

Some time later, Bryan awoke in the moving van. He sat up, holding his slightly aching head. At first he couldn't remember what happened, but it all came back in flashes. Had he been hijacked!?

He turned slightly, and saw Yoshimitsu observing him. He remembered his face, even though it had been seven years. "Y... you!" he exclaimed. "It's you, isn't it?"

Yoshimitsu nodded.

"What's going on? Where are you taking me?"

"Home."

It was simple, direct. It left no questions about their destination unanswered.

"Where's Sis?" Bryan asked.

"Don't worry," Yoshimitsu replied. "In all probability, she will be taken to a nearby hospital, where they realize she is alright. Then she will be sent home."

"To a hospital!?" Bryan cried out. "What the hell did you do to her!?"

Bryan was about to leap up, but he realized he had been tied up, "What the... untie me!"

"I'm sorry, but you do realize we cannot take any risks while we're on enemy territory," Yoshimitsu apologized. "And as for your question, I had to fake her knock-out to assure Heihachi she really tried to get me. Like I said, she will be fine."

Bryan calmed down a little. There was something reassuring in this man. He was still like a mountain. Bryan took a deep breath and decided to go along – it wasn't as if he had many options. Yoshimitsu leaned on the back of his seat, watching the changing scenery through the wind shield. "How much longer 'till Detroit?" Bryan inquired.

"About twenty minutes," Yoshimitsu replied, keeping his eyes where they were. Either he was staring at the highway or he was looking into infinity. Bryan stared at the sword he had. He couldn't point a finger at it, but he felt there was something strange in the sword. As if the sword hadn't been "something" but "someone". He stared at its decorated sheathe and hilt; it looked like it was hundreds of years old. Bryan couldn't help but wonder how many villains had died by its blade.

Noticing the boy's curiosity, Yoshimitsu took the sword carefully out of its sheathe. Now Bryan saw it clearly; the blade had a spooky, green aura surrounding it – a color identical to Yoshimitsu's eyes. The sword was in perfect shape despite its old age; there were no stains or scratches in the blade and all the decorating were intact. It shined like it had been just polished. Bryan came soon into conclusion this sword was part of Yoshimitsu's soul.

Or perhaps it was the other way around? Who knows.

"Do you like it?" Yoshimitsu asked.

"I ain't seen anything like it," Bryan replied. "Where'd you get it?"

"It has been handed over in our family for many generations," Yoshimitsu said, sheathing the sword again. "From Clan leader to Clan leader. From father to son. I received it when I became the leader of the Clan, and my son will receive it after he becomes the leader."

The guy that looked like Bryan chuckled at the front seat. "At this rate, it's my little sister that's going to inherit the sword," he hollered. He sounded cheery, despite what he had just said. Yoshimitsu's lips curved into an amused smile while his son turned to look at Bryan. "Seriously... the girl is seven and she whooped me up 900 – 0," he laughed. "She's so good she's scary!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Wulong rushed up the same stairs Brianna had ascended before. Heihachi ran right beside him, with a few of his thugs with him. He opened to door with a key, and as the door was even slightly open, Wulong rushed outside to the roof. "Fury!" he shouted. "Brianna! Where are you!?"

Brianna lay peacefully on the ground, in the deepest dream she had ever had. She remained still even when Lei checked her vital signs and tried to shake her awake. Heihachi used his radio phone to contact his thugs if they had seen any signs of the Manji Clan members. None. They had disappeared into thin air; the only evidences they were ever there were the empty vault and unconscious Brianna. Heihachi laid a homicidal glare on Brianna, and before Lei was able to stop him, he kicked Brianna hard into her gut, swearing in Japanese. "Stop that!" Wulong cried out. "It wasn't her fault! You know she didn't stand a chance against Yoshimitsu!"

"Excuses, excuses..." Heihachi growled, and turned to his thugs. "Get that boy, and make sure he knows what will be waiting for him."

Suddenly, the thugs looked at each other with scared faces. "Sir, I don't know how to tell you this..." one of the staggered. "The boy has disappeared. He's nowhere to be found."

At the same time, Lei noted the neat scar made by the needle in Brianna's neck. It all became very clear to him; it had all been a brilliant scheme that Yoshimitsu had arranged. Not only he had managed to fool the Interpol, he had also fooled the whole Zaibatsu. He had delivered Bryan into safety before taking on their mission and Brianna, and he had ensured that both of the siblings survive the trap Heihachi had landed on all of them. Lei couldn't help but chuckle – the enemy of his enemy obviously was his friend.

While Heihachi cursed out loud his failed plan, Wulong swiftly picked Brianna up into his arms and carried her all the way into his car. Due to her epilepsy, he didn't afford to take her into a hospital – not that it would have cost him anything, since this happened on-duty, but he grimaced when only thinking about Brianna's mood after she would find out. The best solution he thought was to take her home.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The Manji Clan's van stopped near Brianna's apartment. Yoshimitsu took a knife from his pocket and cut the ropes around Bryan. The boy stretched in relief when he got his arms moving again. "Take care," Yoshimitsu said. Bryan, to even his own amazement, smiled widely. "Yeah... you too," he replied. The rear doors of the van opened up, letting Bryan out into the chilly evening air. The doors closed and the van left. Bryan stared after them for a while before escaping the cold breeze into the house.

A few hours later Bryan was sitting at his desk, earphones playing background music for him while he was working on his demo. It was his lifetime want to become a professional rap artist, and if he could make a demo good enough to get his music into the radio and if he could gather name for himself from the battles at The Cage, the lift-off into stardom would be easy.

But now, he couldn't concentrate. Every time he had did something significant, he had stared at Sis. Even yesterday, when he worked on the demo for the previous time, he had constantly feasted his eyes on her. She had done nothing significant; she had read a book in her bed, every now and then feeling his eyes on her and responding into the staring with a warm smile. Now, Sis wasn't there, and Bryan was no longer sure when she would return.

When a few more hours passed, he heard a car closing up. He raced to a window to see outside, and was relieved to see Lei Wulong carrying Brianna home. Bryan opened up the door for them and helped Lei to wrap a warm blanket around Brianna. He laid her on her bed and made sure she was as comfortably as possible. "She should awake any moment now, I think," Lei assured. "She was tranquillized with some sort of anaesthetic drug and she would be perfectly unharmed, hadn't Heihachi decided to take his anger out and kick her in the guts. She may have a few ribs broken. Do you have any bandages?"

"Dunno," Bryan replied. "I'll go get a look."

Bryan left the room in a hurry. While he was gone, Brianna shifted slightly and moaned the pain in her guts. Lei caressed her hair carefully, and was surprised to hear her calling out Yoshimitsu's name. Could it really be that this strange ninja had melted the ice queen's heart? Bloody Brianna apparently had an emotional side in her, as well.

Brianna forced her eyes open, in hope of seeing the Hero one, last time. Instead, she saw the ceiling of her own home, and the worried face of Lei Wulong. "Oh... hey," she staggered.

"Hey," Wulong replied.

"Who won?"

"We did. You, myself and Bryan are safe, the Manji Clan got away and Heihachi was left with a new, empty room."

Brianna smiled the feeling of relief she felt, letting her head rest deeper into her pillow. Everything had turned out okay after all, and it was all thanks to Yoshimitsu and his Clan. She owed it everything to him, and that moment she made a pledge to continue protecting her Hero with all the possible ways she could.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	20. Showdown Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 20: Showdown Fury aka. Footsteps in the snow

One last cigarette.

The warmth of the lighter's flame caressed Brianna's face while she lit up her cig. It was the only light source in the dark corner anyway. Chilly fall wind made her pull her trenchcoat tighter around her and its hood over her head. That's about all she had to do right now; inhale, exhale, shiver... and wait.

How much longer would she have to wait?

She watched people pour in and out the Cage. Lei's van was on the lookout near the front doors, and Lei himself was approaching her. "Still nothing?" she asked when he got close enough.

"Nothing," Lei replied. "Target isn't even in yet... the boss surely makes us wait."

"There's a saying, 'hurry up and wait'," said Brianna while letting the cigarette fumes pour out of her. "It means you should prepare yourself quickly, so you'd be ready for whatever lies ahead."

Lei chuckled. "You're beginning to sound like Yoshimitsu. Are you sure you're alright? It's been only a few days since you fought him."

In complete silence, Brianna stole a fleeting glance at Lei before putting out her cigarette. Unbeknownst to Lei and even to Bryan, she had grown a great interest in Feodal Japan's culture and philosophy, so it wasn't a wonder she was influenced. She would find herself lying on her bed, reading the books of knowledge from hours to end.

The radio phone in Lei's pocket burst to talk. It's voice was silenced and muffed due to Lei's thick jacket, but it was clear enough to make up words.

"The target has entered the building. Sending out the surveillance team. ETA ten minutes."

Brianna yawned.

"Well, at least we're getting somewhere soon," Lei remarked while pulling his jacket tighter around himself. "It's getting cold in here."

Brianna didn't reply. She kept leaning on the wall, knowing that getting impatient now would blow their covers for good. Yet suddenly, she gasped – a face too familiar popped out from the crowd and headed straight into the Cage. Lei turned to look at the same direction.

"Oh no.. Bryan is here."

Lei was as shocked as Brianna. This would complicate matters; they all knew Bryan and Brianna shared the same temper, and should the situation grow tight, Bryan could easily do something drastic. To keep an eye on her brother would also mean extra burden for Brianna, who was already responsible for arresting the suspect they were after.

A few hollers of his nickname stopped Bryan on his tracks. "Yo Viper, wait up!" his whole posse except Delta gathered around him, greeting him the way the subculture required. "What up, man?"

"I'm cool," Bryan replied.

"Don Doe said you blew because you didn't get your demo ready in time," Edam said. "You sure you're cool? You look a bit busted."

"He also said some crazy shit about him and Caroline," Lun told.

"We gonna jump those guys again?"

Bryan shook his head. "Fuck that. I'm gonna battle them."

An astonished silence landed on the posse. They all looked at Bryan, who stole a fleeting glance at them while relishing his words. He was going to battle them in the Rap Olympics, even though he had choked a week ago. He felt he was ready. He needed this victory. And yes, he didn't get his demo ready in time, but he had another time reserved in the local radio station the next week. Should he now win the Olympics, the rocket launch into stardom would be complete, and then he would have all the money in the world to complete his dreams – and not to forget about Sis, either. All of this was possible because of her support.

"For real?" DJ Jozz managed to stagger. Bryan gave him a determined nod. The posse still kept staring at him like they had just seen a ghost. They couldn't believe their ears – this was the record time recovery from a defeat.

Ignoring their stares, Bryan turned on his heels and continued his walk towards the backstage. DJ Jozz, Edam and Lun were left standing stunned and motionless, staring at his back. Bryan stopped at the backstage door: "You guys comin' or what?"

Brianna watched the rest of the posse follow Bryan. So, he was here to fight for his honor... after letting out a long sigh, Brianna turned to Lei. "Change of plans," she declared. "We arrest our suspect after the Olympics."

"Huh, why?" Lei wondered. "Brianna, we can't change our schedule just because..."

"Do you have the faintest inkling as to whom we are busting in here, Wulong?" Brianna interrupted. Lei thought for a moment, but gave up, shaking his head. He knew nothing except for the name, appearance and the criminal record. In these circles, everybody knew at least that much of each other.

"As I thought," Brianna snickered. "His name is Clark Matthews, but in here, they all know him as Don Doe. He is the defending champion of the Rap Olympics. He won't be leaving before the battling is over, if we just lay low and stay put. If we start reaching him before the fights even start, he will surely notice us, but if we make a swift approaching during the battles, he won't ever realize what hit him. Understood?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Edam, tonight I'm gonna get 'em_

_Show 'em a punchline or two, they can't do better_

_Rip 'em to shred-ah – you think I'm a fool?_

_That's cool, but you're the only one lookin' like baboon_

_Climbin' the trees like an ape, tryin' to find a grape_

_Getting higher on the ranks than Don Doe's rate_

Bryan was throwing his act into the hip hop beat that echoed from the Cage's hall into the backstage room. Edam was listening to his set, bursting in to laughter every now and then. Bryan was definitely one of the most talented rappers ever seen in the 8 Mile ghettos. But suddenly, Bryan laid a worried look at the other side of the backstage. Edam turned to look -

Don Doe. And his posse.

They let out the lamest fake laughter at Bryan and Edam, pointing at them while "collapsing" of laughter. Bryan sighed and lit up a cigarette. Don Doe had been a school bully as long as he was able to remember and apparently the ending of school couldn't bring him out of the bullying habit. Not that Bryan cared much nowadays.

Don Doe and his posse suddenly ceased laughing. In came Delta, the battle host, with a mean look on his face. "Let's get the fuck outta here..." Don Doe muttered and left with the posse. Even though Delta was part of Bryan's gang, people respected him in this arena, since he practically speaking owned some of it. Now, it was this gang's turn to burst out in laughter. Delta jokingly pulled Bryan's woolly hat on his eyes while they watched their rivals flee. "It's on tonight, Viper," he said. "Go blow their brains out."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Aiight, aiight, aiight people, how you feelin' out there?"

Delta practically speaking screamed into his mic. The crowd, the whole hall of The Cage burst into cheers and whistles to accompany his enthusiasm. Brianna stole a glance around the hall; all the representatives of the hip hop culture were present, and 90 of them were black, as she well knew. She wasn't only worried about Bryan's success against these odds, but also of her success of busting – these people hardly would just sit and watch a white cop arresting a black man. Racism was a bad problem in the neighborhood. Brianna found a good example only five minutes ago when she entered the building with Wulong and Jameson. She was Caucasian, Wulong was Chinese and Jameson was Afro-American. The bouncer had let him in after he had briefly explained he had left something inside The Cage, but Brianna had to near choke him before he believed hers and Wulong's badges were for real. To Brianna it had been a slightly amusing situation, since she could remember many times it had been vice versa; she got past white bouncers like nothing, and Wulong got past Asian bouncers. The problem didn't occur only in the 8 Mile area.

"Next up, Bass Boomer and Pit Viper. Come to the stage!"

Bryan's nickname caught Brianna's attention. A young, black man in an over-sized hoodie appeared on the stage, but Bryan was nowhere to be seen. "Pit Viper, where you at?" Delta announced. At once Brianna saw one member of Bryan's posse leaving for the men's room. "Come to the stage, Viper!"

Bryan leaned his forehead on the chilly concrete wall of the men's room. The room was murky green and dirty, its walls filled with graffitis and puke. Even that of Bryan's; he remembered full well the last time he had come here to calm down before the battles. He had been so anxious he ended up puking multiple times.

Tonight, there were no anxiety inside him. It had been replaced with a strange void. Inspirational void. He had heard all the battles into the room, and he had always come up with a counter to each verse he heard. All the counters had just appeared from this void. When Bryan would just shut up and listen, silence his thoughts completely, he was able to hear everything from the void.

It was not his first encounter with the feeling. It had popped up every now and then after his encounter with the Hero. As if the Hero had somehow spread his stillness into him, too. It was the only explanation he came up with, anyway.

A gentle knock came from the restroom's door. "Viper!" Edam's awkward voice echoed through the door. "Your turn now. You're battling against Boomer, you cool with that?"

Bryan just stood there, without opening his eyes, listening to the void. "Yeah," he replied to Edam. "I don't give a fuck who it is."

He walked straight through the crowd onto the stage. Brianna watched in awe – the confidence Bryan displayed without even doing anything was something she had never seen. He was a completely different person in these circles. Naturally, as Brianna would quickly add – she slapped herself mentally for even thinking that she would see her brother here. This wasn't detective Brianna Fury's little brother – this was Pit Viper, one of the few white rappers that have been accepted into these circles.

Bryan stepped onto the stage, laying his eyes on his opponent, estimating him and his skills. Bass Boomer belonged the Don Doe's posse. They called themselves Fantasmic, and they were by far the loudest and most arrogant of all the posses in the area. Brianna had had to deal with them before. This would certainly be worth seeing.

Delta took a coin from the DJ's desk nearby and turned to Bass Boomer. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads."

A flip of a coin. "Heads. Decide," Delta said.

Bass Boomer grabbed the mic from Delta's hand. "I'll go first against this choke artist!"

The audience hooted, but Bryan didn't react to it. He stepped back a little to clear the stage for Boomer. "Alright then!" Delta announced. "45 seconds. DJ, spin that shit!"

The background beat began, the audience cheered already and Boomer cleared his throat loudly, but Bryan refused to hear that. All he concentrated on was what Boomer would say, and what would the void reply. Let it come.

_Take a look at this paleface! He's a bad one_

_Choking one the sight of us Fantasmic rap gun_

_Whiteys ain't welcome man, look what you've done_

_By the time I'm done, you'll be totally gone_

_Don't think it's fun – you're a disgrace_

_Only your fuckin' cop sister could love your face_

_I don't even know if you have a sister or a brother_

_Whichever it is, it's an ugly mother fucker_

_Your dad should've worn a rubber_

_You little faggot, you think you could face da Bass Boomer?_

_It's a wonder no one has killed you sooner_

_You could never win, you don't belong, you're a loser_

_Take your faggot rap and shove 'em up your white ass_

_We don't listen anyone who ain't in a class._

The audience roared. Brianna felt a spike in her heart, not because of being mentioned in the battle, but she understood now what Bryan had to face every day he attended the rap olympics. Insults, racism, prejudices... Bryan had to be a lot stronger than he seemed.

The background beat began once more. Bryan held the mic in his hand, but his head was down and his eyes were closed. "Don't choke this time," Bass Boomer muttered, looking like he wasn't far from killing him right on the spot. Suddenly, Bryan looked at him, straight into his eyes, and lifted the mic up.

_It's hard to believe you came up with such shit_

_You didn't have the slightest class in it._

_Keeping that bullshit up 'till the last minute -_

_You seem to me like some 2Pac mimic_

_So I have a brother, eh? That cool_

_You're the one to talk, she's got bigger balls than you do_

_Lookin' like a dump truck hit you_

_What's the matter dawg? Your pants filled with your doo-doo?_

_You're the Bass Boomer, but I'm the Pit Viper_

_I swallow you whole without even bitin'_

_Don't need a venom to serve you, so start hitchhickin'_

_If you wanna be home for tonight's tuck-in_

_Tell yo mom to save me a plate later tonight_

_I'll be at yours once your momma kisses you goodnight._

The audience hooted so loud Brianna's ears rang even hours afterwards. Like everyone else in the audience, she too was screaming and applauding. Bryan had wasted his opponent 900 – 0. His posse was roaring and clapping, even the DJ paid his respects. Bryan handed the mic over to Delta who wasn't able to subdue his excitement either. "Oooh! Oooh! We don't need a re-count for that! Pit Viper is the winner! He will enter the next round! ... ok, ok, ok, the next up, we have... Tallboy and Hazard, come to the stage motherfckers..."

Bryan stepped off the stage with the people near him applauding and congratulating him. Brianna wanted to congratulate him, too, but knew she mustn't let him know she was there with Wulong and Jameson. That would be blowing their cover for good.

With the same talent and skill, Bryan defeated successfully every opponent he faced. His next and final opponent was none other than Don Doe himself. Bryan felt he needed a break before facing him in a battle. He headed outside the building to have a smoke and some fresh air, but just as he had lit his cigarette he heard his sister's voice coming from behind the corner. Indeed, Brianna stood there, speaking into her cell phone. "Affirmative," she said. "We have located our target. Clark 'Don Doe' Matthews, age 30. - No, I don't know how he manages to look that young. - ...was kicked out from a private school of Nicamine? Why? - Child molesting? Now that's something new. What else do you have on him? - Really? - Okay. What's his home address, in case he escapes? - What the heck's a penniless man like him doing on Parkway, that's snooty area! - Lives with his parents? Oh..."

Bryan listened further while exhaling the cigarette fumes.

"We'll launch the arrest after the final battle," Brianna said and dumped her cigarette. "We have one more battle to go. We need to get as close to the stage as we can without the target noticing us. - Whaa...? - Relax, chief. It's gonna be a piece of cake. - What's he gonna do, kill us?"

Bryan knew. He dumped his cigarette and returned swiftly indoors before Brianna would spot him. He had to hurry back onto the stage, where Don Doe was already waiting for him. He laid a murderous glance on Bryan – many would've cringed at the sight, but Bryan didn't. He knew what to expect, he knew whom he was facing and he knew how he could defeat him. And he knew that if anything would go wrong, he had Brianna to back him up. He had nothing to be afraid of.

The crowd was practically speaking in ecstasy. They cheered and howled like a bunch of loud animals, some for Bryan, some for Don Doe. Even Delta wasn't able to contain his excitement, he yelled in his microphone. "Aiight, aiight, aiight! It's the championship round, and YES believe me it's for real! We've got my man Pit Viper and Don Doe. I ain't have to even stress how important this is! This is what we had come to see here tonight, 'coz we're the Cage, we represent!"

Bryan and Don Doe eyed each other. Don Doe was slightly taken aback my Bryan stillness, but decided to call it a bluff. "Don Doe, you're the defending champion, so you get to choose," Delta said, now more subdued. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads."

Flip.

"Heads. You choose."

"Let that faggot go first."

The crowd howled in excitement, even Delta let his astonishment shine through. "Wooow, I can't believe my ears, a lot of hostility! Doe's pissed off!"

Bryan sighed. To go first would mean it would be very hard to impress the crowd well enough to defeat the defending. He took the mic from Delta and waited patiently 'till the background beat had begun and the void had finished speaking.

_Now every dawg in the Cage tonight_

_Party on with me if you're feeling alright_

_Every dawg in the Cage right now_

_Put your hands up if you belong in the crowd_

_Okay, look -_

_Now while Doe stands tough,_

_Notice that the dawg ain't got his hands up_

_You think I don't know what you gonna say?_

_You want to say it yourself but I'll tell them anyway_

_I am wrong-colored, I ain't got any money_

_I have a cop for a Sis and a whore for a honey_

_Know what's more funny? I work at Jimmy's for chickenfeed_

_I would've died without Sis, and I don't even pay for the upkeep_

_But I know lots and lots about you_

_You went to Nicamine; it's a private school_

_You were kicked out, busted for child abuse_

_You live with your parents, safe and sound, on Parkway_

_This is 8 Mile, snooty area's like that-a-way_

_You ain't a fucking Don Doe, you're a Clark Matthews_

_You're not even a crook, and that's all that matters_

_There, I've said it all, I'm outtie_

_Tell these people something they don't know about me_

Bryan tossed the mic to Don Doe who looked a bit more than shaken already. When the background beat began on his turn, he didn't manage to get a word out of his mouth. He choked, in front of them all, causing the audience to cheer and scream louder than they ever had. Don Doe held the mic to Delta, his head down with shame. He was already leaving the stage when Bryan grabbed him by his sleeve. "You're not going anywhere," he said into the mic he took from Delta. "You're busted."

"You can't bust me, faggot, you ain't a cop," Don Doe growled, but suddenly the audience gasped and he heard a gun getting loaded right at his ear. Slowly, even scared he turned to look to meet the cold barrel of a Desert Eagle and even colder eyes of Brianna. "Freeze," Brianna said, loud enough for Bryan's mic to catch her voice. "You are under arrest for illegal drug dealing, blackmailing and murder. Anything you say can and will be used against you. Overstood?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

People watched as Don Doe was forced into a police car with his hands cuffed and reputation ruined. The Fury siblings stood near each other, watching the bad guy being taken away. It seemed like a happy fairytale ending, good guys winning, bad guys losing, and sibling love prevailing.

Snow rained silently on the streets, creating a dream-like atmosphere in the dark and restless ghetto. Brianna switched off her radio phone, calling it a day. Job well done; no casualties, no meaningless struggles. Just a clean sweep. She had no reason to feel bad about the operation. Neither had Bryan. He had had the chance to confront Don Doe and defeat him in a fair battle. Brianna had sneaked behind his back while Bryan had distracted him. Their teamwork had always been as silent and seamless.

"Hey Pit Viper!" it was someone from the Fantasmic. Bryan hardly had the interest to turn and look, but he did. Don Doe's right hand man Leechie ran to him and Brianna.

"What do you want?" Bryan growled.

"Hey, man, relax, we're cool," Leechie gasped. "I just thought you and your sis might want to know. We thinks Don Doe's might have been in deep. We hear he had some connections with greater circles."

"To whom?" Brianna asked sharp.

"Not know, but be careful, Viper, detective Fury, -" (Brianna laughed inwards at the sudden politeness towards her) "- if Don Doe was into something big, the kingpin could start looking for you."

Brianna thanked Leechie for the information. She turned to leave. "That was not wise, Bryan," she suddenly said. Bryan caught up with her. "What wasn't wise?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. The air was getting very cold. Brianna breathed in and out before replying. "The cops around here have more enemies than allies, Bryan," she said. "And now you have been officially labelled as a cop's relative. This was not wise. You've been put into great danger now."

"I'll be alright, sis," Bryan replied. "I've got the reputation and the posse that will keep me safe in these circles."

"In these circles, yes, but in the circles beyond... who knows what the future will bring."

Two pairs of footsteps were left in snow. Small ones from army boots, big ones from sneakers.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	21. The Fury Is Crippled

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 21: The Fury is crippled on the sinners' night (1)

After walking separate routes for years, the Fury siblings finally reunited and had an outing together where they always had been; the Strike. Beer flowed like it had never stopped, laughter echoed in the corners and lifted up the ceiling into new hight. They shot pool until the last orders, after which they walked almost hand-in-hand back into their apartment. Their home. Back to the safe haven.

A wave of shock pierced both when the front door opened. The pale moonlight lit the apartment just enough for them to see the mess, the complete chaos inside. All furniture thrown around, all drawers opened and their contents emptied on the floor. Everything messed up. Without speaking a word, the siblings scouted the house for damage.

"It's official," Brianna declared, after a while. "We've been burgled."

Her eyes lay on her empty gun cupboard. She didn't possess weaponry that would have had any antique or rarity value. It was obvious that someone had wanted to disarm her. She was glad Bryan was oblivious of the scheme that probably was going on behind their backs. Had he been aware of her suspicions, he would have risked himself.

"What the hell they wantin' your pieces for, Sis?" he asked.

"Probably some street gang preparing for a turf hit," Brianna shrugged, giving her everything to sound plausible. "Extra work for us, I'm afraid. Dammit."

Brianna picked up random stuff here and there and put them on their places, when Bryan came to her from his room, holding an empty box in his hand. "Oh, shit man..." he sighed. "They took the money for the studio time."

He felt Sis's gentle eyes on his face. Brianna was almost able to hear his heart break. She had been aware how much he had wanted to record his demo, she knew how much he had been working to gather the money. Bryan sat on Brianna's bed with his head down, gritting his teeth. The sight shattered Brianna's heart into tiny pieces, bringing tears into her eyes. She never wanted to see her brother heart-broken ever again. She pulled her battle knife from her shin holster and struck it hard into the floor, directly between two boards. Using the knife as a lever, she pulled a few boards off the floor to reveal a hidden iron box underneath. She took it out, sat next to her brother and carefully opened up the box. It was full of money – hundreds of dollars, perhaps over thousand dollars. Brianna had been piggy-banking all the time, putting everything she could afford aside. "I have saved this for you, Bryan," she whispered softly. "I want you to go to college, study and get a real job, to lead a normal life. I don't want you to end up like me."

"But... Sis..."

"No buts, Bryan. I know it's your life, and you do like you please, but I must try and guide you, since you have been my responsibility ever since you were born. I want you to be happy, but you must think rationally and consider the possibility that you might never earn your living with music."

She handed the box over to Bryan. "You can use enough to get the demo recorded now," she said. "After that, please think carefully before using it."

Brianna's words vested her brother with greater feeling of responsibility than he had ever felt. In this rusty iron box was Sis's blood, sweat and tears, something beyond just money and a ticket to a better future. Her eyes told it all; she could open the door for Bryan, but he was the one who had to walk through it. "But no matter what you decide to do, Bryan," she spoke. "I will always stand by you."

Once more her black nails ran through Bryan's silver hair, before she stood up. "Now, let's hope they didn't raid our fridge as well. I had a 20-pack of Budweiser there."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bryan felt his heart race into world record. He handed over the money to the Studio 88's owner, who counted the amount a few times before finally giving Bryan a fake smile and welcoming him to the place. Everything was set. The stage was set. Bryan walked inside the voiceproof booth, right in front of the microphone and put on the headphones he found nearby. The director was right on the other side of the glass, making final adjustments to the sound. Finally Bryan was able to hear the music from the headphones. The familiar music. His music. The music he had heard from the strange void given by the Hero, whose name he never knew. The void had absorbed his feelings and thoughts, his love for his sister and the pain he had felt, and composed the piece he was now recording. He would give it everything he had.

_This is for the Hero and the Heroine. The God and the Goddess. The Man and the Woman._

Meanwhile, Brianna was enjoying her day off. Bryan wouldn't be home until evening; it was her chance to dip herself into Absinthe and doze off, to rest after everything she had been through. But she knew it wasn't over. Far from it. But she didn't care. She drank Absinthe. She drank, even after the room began to change into colorful fog and the furniture began to move and change forms. Brianna opened the third bottle and poured the green liquid into a tumbler, missing it almost completely. She heard rain beating the windows of the house, but it all seemed distant and unreal. "..._did you ever smell the rain, the humidity in the air_?" she heard herself sing softly, stopping for another sip from the tumbler. "..._did you ever feel the pain, depending on what you will dare_?"

"_The sweetest pain you ever felt, it's fun and desperation. Emotion which you cannot steal – love has no date of expiration._" (2)

It was not her voice that carried on the rest of the song. Brianna was hardly able to sit up on the sofa to look around into the psychedelic mess that once was her living room. "Who... who's there?" she muttered, hearing no answer nor seeing anyone. She automatically reached for her Desert Eagle on her hip, but it wasn't there. Neither was the knife in the shin holster.

A faint form appeared into the misty psychedelia, right behind the sofa, right in front of Brianna's eyes. She reached to punch the form, only to fall over with the sofa and hurting her face on the floor. Her fist only grasped emptiness. But the form remained there, intact, as real as ever, calling her name in a soft, but metallic voice. Brianna held her bleeding nose, looking up where she assumed the form's eyes located. "You ain't real," she spat with an ever-growing anger for the illusions surrounding her, isolating her from the reality she suddenly began to miss. "If you were real, there would be a few yards of wall on the neighbor's side right where you're standing at."

Brianna stumbled up, still holding her bleeding nose. She cursed herself, cursed the Absinthe, cursed the overdose of thujone she suffered of. She cursed the illusionary figure that had scared her shitless. Picking up the sofa from the floor and putting it back the way it was, she sighed. "That guy ain't real... I lie down, close my eyes, and when I open them up again, he will be gone."

Doing so only proved her wrong. The form came closer, elegantly and gently, becoming more and more detailed. Part of Brianna recognized him, but her mind was too enshrouded in the illusions of Absinthe that she couldn't bring his name into her consciousness. He pointed towards the door, directing Brianna's attention to there just as it was kicked in and men with firearms rushed inside, shooting everything into pieces. Brianna jumped up in fear, into the form's arms, her brain struggling whether she saw was true or not. She was able to feel the form, his arms around her, his beating heart and his gentle stroking. She felt the intruders' bullets piercing her body, the burning pain of hot bullets penetrating her and breaking her bones. She gasped air to scream, but nothing came out of her throat. The form held her, looking her into her icy blue eyes.

_This is meant to happen, Brianna._

_It is meaningless to struggle against it._

_You chose the life of a bodyguard._

_Every bodyguard dies protecting those they must._

_You and I are no different._

"P... please!" Brianna tried to scream, but her voice was not louder than a whisper. "I... I don't want... to die!"

_That deed is not well done when, after having done it, one repents, and when weeping, with tearful face, one reaps the fruit thereof. _

"Wh... what?"

Brianna couldn't hear anymore. Her eyes became heavier than ever, until she wasn't able to hold them up anymore. She collapsed on the floor, like an autumn leaf that falls from a tree, just to remain on the ground lifelessly.

Hours later Brianna shot her eyes wide open. She was lying on the sofa, the front door was where it always had been, there were no signs of shooting or intruding visible. There was no one else in the room besides her. She slowly stood up from the sofa, fearing her aching head would explode any minute. She knew Absinthe was known of causing illusions. She would never drink it again; as a matter of fact, she would dispose of the rest of it.

It was only when she reached for the bottle on the coffee table that she realized she had never bought Absinthe. The bottles on the table were Budweiser. She took back her shaking hand and sat down on the floor. She couldn't understand what had just happened. Was it all a dream, an illusion... or a premonition?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bryan rushed home from the studio, almost going through the front door to tell Sis the great news. She was making sandwiches for dinner like usual, when Bryan came in the kitchen corner and tossed a brand new demo CD on one of the counters. "I made it!" he cheered, more joyous than ever before. "And know what, they loved it! Said it definitely works its way up the food chain. It's franchise!"

Brianna turned to look, smiling. "I'm so proud of you, Bryan. You have finally made your dream come true."

"Almost," he said. "I'mma send it to the local radio station tomorrow. They look for new artists so I think I have a chance getting on top of it. Sis, I made it! I'm on my way to stardom!"

"Slow down, bro," Brianna said, shoving a sandwich into his mouth. "Eat now so you have the energy to dance around all evening about it."

It was then when Bryan actually realized how hungry he was. The siblings sat down in the living room, enjoying the food Bryan ate a good half of the sandwiches while telling everything about the recording session. Brianna listened, honestly interested in her brother's happiness, but still slightly worried of the illusion she had had earlier that day. It was like she could still see the form on the wall.

No. It really was there.

Brianna became more white than it had ever been, as her face tried to hide her shock in vain. It really, truly stood there, right behind Bryan, as real as ever. It was not a mere illusion of alcohol or thujone, it was as real as Bryan and Brianna.

_The time has come, Brianna. Do what you have to do._

With no further claims, the form faded, disappearing into the shadows of the corners. Bryan noted the shocked look on Sis' face, and immediately scouted the room for the source of her shock, finding nothing. "Sis, what is it?" he asked. Instead of replying, Brianna sprung up from the sofa, grabbing Bryan by his shoulders and dragging him into his room. "Sis, what the heck are you doing!?" he cried out.

Brianna pushed him on his bed and crouched down to the same level with him. "Bryan, listen to me very carefully," she said, doing her best to keep her voice from cracking. "I want you to stay here. Don't come out, no matter what happens."

"But Sis..."

"Shh," Brianna crossed his lips with her finger. "You have to trust me, Bryan. I cannot explain, you might not ever understand why, but what is important is that you trust me now. Stay here, hide if you have to, but whatever you do... survive, Bryan. Stay alive."

With that, she placed a kiss to her brother's forehead. "I love you, Bryan. You are everything to me. Don't ever forget that."

She left, closing the door behind her, but taking one more look at her brother before the door shut completely. Bryan ran to the door, already reaching for the door knob, but finally deciding against it. He wanted to trust her. She had always been right. She must know why. Her word was not to be questioned. Sighing heavily, Bryan sat back down on his bed and held his head in his hands. He couldn't understand, he just couldn't... but maybe it was for the best.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Brianna was sitting with her back towards the front door when the hell broke loose. In the deepest reaches of her mind she heard the door kicked in, the weapons cocking and she felt the infrared lights being aimed at her back. But she didn't open her eyes to look at the intruders. Instead, she kept her book of Japanese wisdom firmly in her hands.

Upon the sound of the front door being kicked in, Bryan sprung up from his bed, ready to rush into the living room when once again Brianna's words stopped him. He silently squeezed himself towards the door, sensing the danger and the smell of death lingering in the air. He knew full well, just like Brianna, what was to come. Gasping for air, Bryan felt his legs collapsing beneath him. He pressed his forehead against the chilly door, doing his best to fight his tears.

Brianna stood up, turning around firmly. She faced the flashlights without slitting her eyes, creating an illusion she had been immune to pain, on drugs, insane... anything to leave an eerie image of herself behind her when she would finally depart. She saw the leader of the intruders approaching her. She recognized the mohawk, the accent, the voice, the style, but they had lost their meaning years ago. She no longer knew the man, nor did the man know her.

"Brianna... long time no see," the boss grinned. Brianna knew he grinned; she saw the glimmer of his white teeth in the darkness. "You seem to have gotten yourself too deep into our business lately..."

"Just shut up and get to the point, I know what I have done," Brianna said. "You are here to make an example of me. Get on with it."

"Whaa!? You in a hurry somewhere? I ain't never seen someone with so hurry to die. But okay, whatever, if you really want so."

Brianna felt it somewhere in her subconsciousness; there were three goons and the boss – the boss was in the middle, two goons on either side, one behind him. The rightmost goon stretched his finger to pull the trigger of his gun. Like a lightning Brianna sprung forward, shoving the goon's arms aside to create an opening. Grabbing his collars she dropped down on the floor, kicking the goon over her. By the time the goon realized what happened, Brianna had already crushed his head under her boot. Feeling the two other goons – the boss was seemingly unarmed – pulling the triggers, she took an elongated cartwheel away from the bullets to take her place again in front of the goons.

One down, three to go.

"Defiant to the end, are ya?" the boss laughed. "Not bad, Brianna, you're fast. You really are. Let's see if you are fast enough. Fire at will, guys."

The sound of gunfire frightened Bryan. He slightly opened the door of his room to see what was going on in their dark apartment. He was only able to see the gunfire, and the shadowy figure of his Sis fighting for her life. She had managed to hide from the first wave of bullets, but the second wave hit her in her right thigh and shoulder. Refusing to give in to the pain, she pulled her combat knife out and rushed towards the second goon, again parrying his weapon aside and, now that she had created another opening, plunged the knife into the goon's guts. She quickly retreated her knife and threw it at the third goon's forehead. Now there was only she and the boss.

Three down, one to go.

Brianna turned her attention to the boss now. He was wandering in the dark, lightless apartment like a regular in an off-license store. "Where is your brother, Brianna?" he asked. "Bryan, was he?"

He called Bryan a few times. Bryan was able to see his shadowy figure, but wasn't able to recognize him even though he looked very familiar. He swore he had seen the mohawk and heard that Harlem accent earlier, he just couldn't say where.

"Bryan is not here," Brianna replied. "I don't know where he is."

"Ah, the teenagers!" the boss laughed. "They ungratefully run off from the shelter you provide them with, only to return back in tears because someone didn't please them enough. Tell me, Brianna, is Bryan a typical troubled teenager?"

"What do you care? Come here so I can finish you off, just like I did to those goons of yours."

The boss laughed again, stepping closer to her. "You truly are in a hurry," he said. "You planning to go somewhere?"

"Yeah, it's bingo night."

"Hahahaha! You were always so funny girl, know that? It's a real shame I have to kill you."

To prove his intentions, the boss drew out a massive knife and lunged at Brianna. She barely managed to dodge the first wave of attack – the boss was something else than his petty goons. He was fast and lethal, and he knew what he was doing. Brianna knew from the very beginning she was no match for him. She was just target practice. While she was dodging the second wave of attack, the boss saw an opening, just big enough for him to dig his knee into Brianna's ribs, cracking a few of them instantly. Every bit of air blew out from Brianna's lungs as she fell on the ground. Gasping for air she forced herself up, parrying the boss's knife the best she could. She felt the cold steel cutting her arms, eventually making its way up to her shoulders. She landed a quick roundhouse into the boss's gut, actually forcing him to back up, but the pain made sure she didn't get enough power to it to knock him out of the game. It only seemed to anger him. Brianna managed to land one more kick to his guts before he grabbed her arm and twisted it into a painful lock behind her back, forcing her on her knees. She cried in pain as she felt her bones slightly shatter.

The cold steel of the boss's knife burnt Brianna's throat by merely grasping it. "Listen to me, Brianna, and listen good," the boss said. "This is all your fault. If you hadn't started fucking with our business, you wouldn't have to die. Your brother wouldn't have to die. We will hunt down and slaughter your brother, but you are not there to protect him this time."

"You're wrong, you bastard," Brianna hissed. "You may have defeated me, but my brother has ten times the power I have. You will never be able to kill him. So do your worst, you wussy! You don't frighten us!"

"Very well."

At the same time Brianna felt the knife slitting her throat open. Sharp agony shot through her instantly as she collapsed on the floor, twitching uncontrollably. The boss left, stepping on her and closing the door as he went. Brianna was left alone on the cold floor, slowly but surely suffocating into her own blood. She was remotely aware of her pulse that was still beating to some extent, but getting slower and slower with every passing second. Giving her all, she tried to concentrate on things around her, rather than the burning pain on her throat, or what was left of it. Vaguely she saw a pool of dark red syrup beginning to surround her, finding it unreal that it was all actually from her. When everything began to darken and all her senses to cease functioning, she heard a sound. She wasn't sure what it could be, it wasn't a human voice. Was it... a door opening somewhere near? Looking at the direction, she saw a from approaching her quickly. She felt the tormenting pain of being turned over on her back and lifted slightly up into someone's arms. Focusing more, she was able to make out Bryan's shocked face in the darkness.

Bryan felt warm tears falling down his cheeks. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; Brianna dying in his arms. He couldn't even understand why. Why would someone want to kill her? How could she have lost? How could she die? How could she leave him? He found himself crying her name. Brianna forced an assuring smile on her lips. She lifted her hand on Bryan's cheek with the last ounce of her strength, looking at him with tired eyes. But eventually everything became dark. Brianna couldn't feel her pulse anymore. She couldn't find herself breathing anymore. She felt her hand drop down lifelessly on the floor as the last breath escaped her and her consciousness was shot into darkness and oblivion.

Bryan pressed the bloody body of Brianna against himself, crying helplessly. Not knowing what to do, he tried to seek comfort from her, without success. Desperately he reached for the phone on the coffee table, and with shaky fingers he dialled a number. "L...L...Lei?" he staggered.

TO BE CONTINUED...

(1) "The saints are cripped on the sinners' night" Lordi: Hard Rock Hallelujah

(2) Funker Vogt: Date of Expiration


	22. Good Bye, Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

"When I'm Gone", by Eminem

Chapter 22: Good Bye, Fury

_And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn  
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice  
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling  
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain  
Just smile back _

Coffins are rather small, when you think that a whole human life will be stored into one. The size is a devastating understatement of the loss it proves real. This is what Bryan realized, when his glazed eyes kept staring at the black, wooden coffin that had only a few boquets and a badge on it. Her badge. Brianna's badge.

Bryan didn't hear the speeches the priest held. He didn't see the police officers that worked with Brianna, all the way until the previous week. Instead, he heard the rain that beat the colorful windows of the church, and saw only the coffin. He felt nothing inside – absolutely nothing. His mind couldn't comprehend yet that Sis was truly gone. The dark guardian angel had fallen.

The autopsy report had arrived a few days after the incident. Cause of death was an apparent suffocating; Brianna had drowned in her own blood. Bryan saw certain irony in it, since he had seen how ruthlessly she had spilt the blood of her enemies. There had also been a large amount of alcohol in her blood, which he found strange since she never acted like she had been drunk. Either she had hid it extremely well, or the alcohol had never had any effect on her. Back when he was still a kid, Bryan had imagined not even knives or bullets had any effect on her. He was proven wrong, with a high price. He guessed that the coffin was closed to hide the bruises and injuries she suffered during the fight.

After the ceremony, all the officers came to pay their respects when the coffin was laid down in the grave, but only a few came to offer consolation to Bryan. One of them being Lei, who offered Bryan a ride home. Bryan accepted silently, turning to leave with Lei. They arrived soon to the center of the graveyard, where Lei told Bryan to wait while he would get the car. Bryan did not mind waiting, all he wanted was to be left alone. His whole world had collapsed in an overnight and he still wasn't able to stand up on his two feet again. Sis was gone. A punch in the face would have felt more human than realizing that.

By the time Bryan arrived home, his blood had gradually turned into ice. He curled up in Sis's bed, rubbing himself in the familiar scent that always provided him with safety. He found himself unable to move. He did try, but he couldn't. He couldn't eat, nor did he fall asleep. There was nothing he was able to do. All he did was lie there, among his sweat, blood, tears and broken heart. Never could he have guessed he could run out of tears.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Death._

_The movies make is so romantic. Poetic. People dying for great causes, leaving a peaceful world behind them to respect their memory. Their loved ones get supported by more loved ones, they understand why the death came to their friends and relatives, they say they're alright with it._

_What a bunch of bullshit._

_Sis is gone. She didn't die the way she should've. There was no world peace spawned by her death, no great speeches... no one but me to cry their hearts out. She died in vain. Her death is shrouded in darkness, filled with questions and mystery, no one knows why her throat was slit open and by who. Not even I. All I have is a voice, and a silhouette of a shadow. _

_God, how I miss her._

_I wrap myself into her sheets, trying to absorb every bit of her that is still left in this cold, empty apartment. I force myself to remember everything she has ever said to me, every thing she has ever done for me, every time she spilt blood to keep me safe. My memories go all the way down to Queens... they're just fragments, mere feelings and thoughts, but they're still there._

_Sis was ten when I was born. I can't remember my mother; she must've died shortly after I was born. Not that I had ever asked about her, Sis has always been my mother. She gave me my name. Her name. She created "us". She made the Fury family. I was born as Bryan Grendel. That boy is now dead. He died in the flames that destroyed my first home. The moment Sis cut me loose from the ropes and rushed me out of the hell's flames, I became Bryan Fury. _

_Fury, furY, fURy, FurY..._

_Dammit, Sis, why did you leave me?_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bryan lit up a cigarette, inhaling the bitter smoke and exhaling them towards the sun. He was standing outside the Cage with Delta, Lun, Edam and DJ Jozz. They had gathered there like always, but nothing was as it used to be. No one had said anything. No one knew what to say. The news of Brianna's death had carried out like a wild fire.

Finally, Lun had it in him to break the silence. "You cool, man?"

"The fuck'd you think?" DJ Jozz slammed. "He just lost his sister. You'd be okay?"

"I just thought..."

"Leave thinking to those with the equipment."

"Shut up, both of you," Delta interrupted, and turned to Bryan again. "Viper?"

Bryan turned to look.

"What you gonna do now?"

Putting out the exhausted cigarette, Bryan merely shook his head. He knew, but he wasn't sure how to tell his posse..

"Look, we all know what she meant to you," Delta continued. "You told us the kind of stories you could expect to see in action movies. She left Terminator and RoboCop in her shadow. But I don't think she would've wanted you to stop living because of her."

"He's right, man," Edam joined in, snorting slightly. "She was a cop. She knew the risks."

Bryan sighed. "Sis, she... she gave me a boxful of money the night before she died. She said I could use some of it to get the demo done. After that, she asked me to think before spending it."

"How much did she give you, man?"

"1725 bucks."

Delta nearly choked on his pot. "Almost two grand? What the heck you gonna do with it?"

Bryan turned away. "Sis wanted me to go to college, study and get a real job," said he. "She respected my love for music, but told me to think rationally and keep in mind I might not make a living with it."

He turned to face the posse again. "She's right. She was always right. I will go to college. I will study. I... I will attend police academy."

"What're you sayin', dawg?" Delta tossed his pot on the ground. "You're gonna be a cop?"

"Yeah. I'll walk in her footsteps. I'mma be a cop. And I will find out who did this to her. And once I do..."

"Oh no, man, but what about your demo?" Edam squealed. "What about your rhymes, man?"

"I'm sorry, guys. I've made up my mind. I need to know who did this."

As if heavy air had surrounded the old posse. A posse that had been born, had lived, and now faced its end. One of them was leaving. Finally, Delta got himself together. "Look, dawg," he said. "You do what you've gotta do. You've always followed your heart. Now, when you're a cop and bustin' those bad-rap asses, don't forget your old pals here at the 8 Mile. You dig?"

Bryan and Delta shared a hug with their posse's name on it. "I won't. I'll never forget you guys."

I'll never forget you.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	23. End of Fury

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © _moi_. That's it.

Chapter 23: End of Fury

The loudness of Eddy Wata's "La Bomba" tore Bryan violently from his sleep. He sprung up from his bunk, hitting his head into his reading lamp at the process. Not that he read much, but the previous owner of this apartment might have been a literal genius for all he knew. Throwing himself at his home stereo system, he kept punching the whole damn system until the accursed euro dance ceased to echo in the air. When the soothing silence was back again, Bryan let out a sigh and decided to send an angry email to the Pure Rap 'n' Hip Hop Sound radio station for playing "La Bomba" every frigging morning, no matter how great a hit it was.

But he was glad he was awake an hour before he usually would. This was a big day. Not because today was his first day at work at Hong Kong Interpol Narcotics division, for thus had the Interpol almighty decreed, and not because he got to meet – and work with - his long lost childhood friend Lei Wulong again, but because this was the day he finally got to take the bandages off his neck.

Before taking off from USA, he had paid a visit to a tattoo parlour with one of his oldest possessions; the ancient coffee mug with two tribal-like motifs on it – all designed by Sis. He had specifically ordered the tattooist to be very careful to get it right, and he even ensured it with some extra cash. Now Bryan was carefully tearing off the bandages in his cramped bathroom somewhere in Hong Kong's busy downtown. Some random observer might have thought seeing him committing some sacred, religious ritual, as he took off the layers quarter-inch by quarter-inch, as if having been afraid of breaking the motifs had he just yanked them off.

Gradually the black lines came into visibility under the layers. Bryan found himself adoring the tattooist's fine work, the motifs being identical to those in the ancient mug that awaited him at the kitchen table, filled with black, hot goodness. Before returning to this mug, Bryan opened up the bathroom mirror locker, and took off the upper shelf to reveal a hidden stash of small glass bottles filled with clear, liquid substance, few injection tubes and quite a many hygienically packed injection needles. Casually, he pieced together a needle and a tube, and measured an amount of the substance. In this, he was precise – no more, nor less than what he had his first time. Not enough to get high, just enough to keep the withdrawal symptoms away.

Once Bryan had laughed to all the junkies who had went on crying like babies how "the choice was not theirs" and how "the environment had made them do it". He found painful irony in the fact that those words were now his story. How Interpol chose to send him as a heroin junkie to undercover, to bust certain drug ring. Not only was the bust a total catastrophe, but he became addicted to heroin. Never admitting it to anyone but himself, he kept going like everything was all right. Like now, he sat down lazily on his couch to drink his morning coffee and browse through the New York Times that one Hong Kong shop kindly provided him with. He didn't care it was a bit old news, as long as it was in English.

As luck would have it, first thing in the morning Bryan was involved in high-speed chase. As he informed dispatch he was heading west in pursuit of a black Kawasaki Ninja without licence plates, Lei Wulong broke in through the radio. "Bryan! It's the Ghost!" he exclaimed. "That gear-head has managed to drop dozens of units off his tail with no effort."

"Then send some fucking backups, dispatch!" Bryan roared.

"Unit Delta 05, be advised, backup unavailable. Backup ETA 15 minutes."

Bryan groaned slightly. Ever since the new mob gained footing in Hong Kong underground business, both Interpol and Hong Kong police had been over-burdened. It was impossible to get up in a jam, and even harder to get a Medevac after being jammed. Backups were never available. One would be required to be nothing lesser than a robocop to get the job done.

But The Ghost wasn't connected to any mob so far. He seemed a loner. Bryan began the pursuit near the an area that belonged to a mob, who called themselves the Undead. They named themselves such for the very reason that they used drugs and anaesthetics to numb themselves to any sort of pain. This also lowered their intelligence level greatly, making them even more dangerous. An undercover cop had alerted dispatch of a drug deal taking place behind La Costa Lotta shopping mall, but as Bryan and few others arrived on the scene, so did The Ghost. He came out of nowhere, destroying whole shipment of assorted narcotics, mugging the Undead holding the money case and took off with it. Bryan was glad they had some of their work cut out for them, but he worried about The Ghost's motive. He wasn't a vigilante; he had broken into many legal corporation and stolen currency and valuable artefacts, leaving nearly always a few corpses after him.

Now The Ghost was headed into a more silent part of the city. As soon as he saw an opening, Bryan accelerated, taking out all that the police car engine had to give, and managed to get past the Ghost and block his way. The Ghost braked violently, but ended up crashing sideways into Bryan's car. He flew rather neatly over the car, but to Bryan's shock, he landed on his feet, seemingly unharmed of the hard crash. Bryan sprung out from the car and aimed his trusty old Desert Eagle directly at The Ghost's head: "Freeze! Get your hands behind your head, NOW!"

The Ghost obeyed. As carefully as he ever could, Bryan approached him, ready to put him in handcuffs, but he couldn't help the uneasy feeling in his guts. Every cell in his body told him not to get any closer to that man. Trying his best to ignore it, Bryan just kept staring at the darkened visor of The Ghost's motorcycle helmet.

Without any warning signal at all, The Ghost lunged at Bryan with incredible speed and agility, forcing the Desert Eagle from his hands and dismantling it in a second. Bryan never realized what happened, but the next moment he was lying on the ground and The Ghost was already picking up his motorcycle from the ground. Instinctively Bryan reached for his spare pistol and fired a warning shot at The Ghost's left hand. Bryan saw the bullet hit the back of his hand, but he swore he saw sparks, as if the bullet was reflected from a hard surface. The Ghost, very casually, picked up the bike all the way and only then was bothered enough to take a look at his broken glove. Taking advantage of Bryan's confused state, he attacked; he crossed the car with a cartwheel over its roof, then lunged at Bryan, shoving him off his feet. He landed with a soft somersault when Bryan was still mid-air, and gave a kangaroo kick to shove the cop even further away. Bryan crashed against the alley wall, deflating his lungs of air. As he stood up gasping for air, he already heard The Ghost taking off with his bike. Bryan just watched him leave the scene, confused and embarrassed – usually he was the one flinging people on the walls. Finally he reached for the radio; "Dispatch, this is Delta 05, I've lost the suspect."

"Affirmative Delta 05. Return to the station."

Bryan picked up the pieces of his Desert Eagle, pieced it back together, taking his time to chain-smoke a few cigarettes to calm his racing heart. Who the heck was that guy?

The day was hot and damp. Bryan felt the effect of the heroin wear off sooner than ever before. He struggled until the last bit he could, until he excused himself and re-injected himself in the men's room. He was forced to wear long-sleeve shirts even during the hottest season because of all the needle scars he had on his arms. He had tried injecting himself in stomach or calves, but his calves always ended up cramping or his stomach not being able to hold anything inside. He returned to his desk, lit a cigarette and browsed through the case files that had been dropped into his incoming mail box by the perky errand girl. She always dropped by at Bryan's desk for a few laughs, friendly words and gossips. She was almost an invisible worker, like many messengers, but it was because of that she was always on top of things.

Bryan wasn't really interested in the case files on his desk. From his bottom drawer, he took an old case file – the case file that had actually led him to Hong Kong. It was an old case, Bryan could tell. 13 years, a month, two weeks and four days. It was the unsolved case of the murder of one officer Brianna Fury. Ever since he became a detective, Bryan had been on this case, collecting clues and leads that had eventually led him where he was now. It was obvious that her arrest of Clark Matthews, aka. Don Doe, had eventually led his mob to hunt her down. Bryan himself had only sparse details of the killer – his mohawk, his afro-American accent, his shape and figure – nothing enough to draw a picture of him. Instead, Bryan began his search with Don Doe's circle, and he would have ended in dead ends multiple times had it not been for his silent companion.

Mishima Zaibatsu was the new kid on the block in Hong Kong. Ever led my Heihachi Mishima, they handled everything from gambling, drugs to prostitution in Japan, and now they had a firm footing in Hong Kong. Officially, they were supporting the Hong Kong police and Hong Kong Interpol by providing tips and hints of illegal actions happening in their area, but their aim was to get the police to look the other way when they were taking actions. Their corruptive claws were dug deep into this department of Interpol, including Bryan. He dismissed his consciousness by declaring that ignoring Mishima Zaibatsu's actions didn't make the creeps he arrested with their tips any less dangerous.

Thanks to Zaibatsu's "generous" help, Bryan was closer than ever before to the busting of Sis's murderer. He had been told that the circle Don Doe belonged to was making footing Detroit through him, but the breaking up of his posse had ultimately led to the mob losing their place in Detroit, which lead into Sis's death. Now Bryan had the name of the mob, their location, their actions... they weren't quite the first on the bust list, but in the TOP 5 anyway. Before long, they would cease to be. He needed only one more piece to the puzzle.

The constant lack of manpower was visible in the amount of overtime hours Bryan, Lei and few other detectives had. Bryan didn't risk taking his whole stash to work at the same time, instead, he was only prepared for certain amount of time, but the heat wore him off earlier than he imagined. With no relief left, the withdrawal came on gradually; his muscles began cramping, his nose became runny and he sweated cold. He would've been able to cope with that, but the constant hovering of Lei Wulong around made the situation unbearable. Especially when Wulong lent Bryan a piece of his attention.

"Hey Bryan, are you alright? You don't look too good..."

Giving his best fake "ACHOO!!!", Bryan pretended to blow his nose on a tissue. "Think I'm catching cold," he claimed. "There's been a lot of stuff going around lately."

"Yeah," Wulong nodded, leaning on Bryan's desk. "Why don't you go home and get rest? You've done enough for this day anyway."

"Sure, alright," Bryan stood up, taking Brianna's case with him.

The drive back to his apartment seemed to take an eternity, but once there, Bryan dragged himself into the cramped bathroom and to his stash. Amazingly, he was able to piece the injection together with his shaky hands. He began filling its tube, more and more... just this time, the withdrawal is so bad... just this once... more, more... tomorrow, back to normal dosage... this is an emergency.

Bryan waited patiently until his sight was de-blurred enough for him to have even a vague idea of his surroundings. He had no idea whatsoever what time or date it was, and by looking he wouldn't even be sure where he was. All he had left was to cling onto his recent memories; being at work, coming home, taking the fix... did he move after that? No, he didn't, he must still be in the bathroom... yeah, in the bathroom. Is the door open?

Bryan took a careless, clumsy swing with his hand at the door's general direction. Nothing.

Ah, so the door is open! Now, if only he could crawl on his bed... nah, too far. The couch should be closer. And it will do. It's just past the kitchen, straight forward... well, mind the kitchen stool. Other than that, the course should be clear. Here we go!

Leaning hard on the wall, Bryan forced his legs to lift him up, keeping those thoughts inside his brain. Past the kitchen, straight forward. And mind the...

THUD. CLANG.

Nevermind. He would pick the kitchen stool up in the morning.

It took him twenty minutes, but he was finally able to crawl on the couch and fall into a restless sleep, which was, as they usually are, cut short by ringing mobile phones. Still drowsy, Bryan dug the phone from his pocket and eventually hit the right button to answer it. "Yeah...?"

"_Detective Bryan Fury?_" a Cantonese accent replied.

"Yeah, whaddaya want?"

"_We need to discuss our deal, Mr Fury – now that you're close of ridding Hong Kong of the Nessaja, it comes to us to fulfil their place in the black market. They had massive cocaine and heroin businesses going on, and we need to come to an agreement of the details to your... renewed deal._"

"Wait, you guys from the Mishima Zaibatsu? You're not my usual contact."

"_Times have changed, I'm your new contact. Your previous contact was dispatched to another task. We need to meet you tonight at the warehouse near the harbour. You know the one – it was run by the Working Girls._"

Yep, Bryan remembered it well. Working Girls, in other words, ex-porn star hookers. Every straight man would remember busting dozens of women who wore practically nothing except big weapons. Every man on the squad were thankful of their codpieces, which were sturdy enough to hide their excessive excitement.

"Alright. I'll be there. What time?"

"_At eight._"

Later on, Bryan cursed himself of his carelessness, his straight walk into an ambush. He cursed that he slipped from his normal dosage, his foggy state and unclear thinking. The Mishima Zaibatsu henchmen would never have agreed to arrange a meeting in such a dump, they liked their clean and tidy offices way too much. They never would've used such risky words as "heroin" and "cocaine", everything was encrypted so tight they wouldn't show up in dreams at night. Still, he appeared at the warehouse, pleasantly ignorant about what he would curse only fifteen minutes later.

There was only one, dim light bulb on in the whole building, and it revealed only one, humongous creature of a man. He was bigger than your average heavyweight wrestler, and had scars at least as much as the whole World's Boxing Association together. He was a peroxide blonde with a tight ponytail, but something told Bryan he wasn't a walking blonde joke. This man wouldn't be messed with.

But in the shadows, Bryan was able to sense, there were many restless men, moving back and forth anxiously beginning from the moment he had stepped inside the building. That was the first moment he suspected an ambush, but tried to calm himself down by reminding himself that the Zaibatsu creeps went nowhere without their bodyguards. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward into the light.

"Detective Bryan Fury?" the giant asked. This took Bryan by surprise, the guys should be able to recognize him by now. Was this a test?

"Yeah, I am," Bryan replied. "Now what's this fuss about? You guys still haven't paid me everything that you owe me."

The giant's pure white row of teeth flashed like a mirror in the dim light. "Do not worry," he smiled. "You'll certainly get your share..."

Now, another man stepped into the light. A tall Afro-American, a mohawk, tattoos all over the body... Bryan felt his heart skip a beat, or cease to beat the instant. "B...Bruce Irvin?" he managed to stutter.

"Long time no see, Bryan," Bruce grinned.

"Okay guys, this ain't funny anymore. What the fuck's going on in here!?" Bryan cried out, taking a few steps backwards. "I thought you were dead!"

"Officially, heh, I believe I am," Bruce laughed. "It's hilarious it never occurred to you, that you were hunting a dead man all these years."

"W... what are you talking about?"

"Your sister's murderer, Bryan – that's right. I killed Brianna. I killed her a good 13 years ago, in her own apartment in old Detroit."

"I know that, you sonuvabitch!" Bryan growled. His veins filled with rage, not only towards Bruce but also towards himself for not realizing it before, for being in this situation, for waltzing straight into Nessaja's ambush. For being so utterly stupid.

"Well then, what are you going to do?" Bruce asked. "Arrest me? Kill me? Surely your sister's spirit demands it. Come on, Bryan – you got me, dead bang."

Bryan gazed Bruce straight into his eyes in a way that would've made Clint Eastwood jealous to heck. He moved his eyes not, not even when he heard firearms getting readied in the shadows and being pointed at him. Bruce, however, raised his hand, signing his assassins to fall back for now. "Here's your chance to revenge, Bryan," he said. "You can kill me right here, right now, if you can."

Bryan didn't spare a split second for hesitation. He lunged at Bruce, filled with all the hatred and grudge that had slept within him for thirteen years. It burnt him from inside, so hard it began tearing his sanity apart. Only by giving the parry all his strength, Bruce was barely able to guard himself from the blow, though he was certain his bone fractured slightly. Bryan was already preparing another violent swing, but this time Bruce was on top of things, parrying his fist and countering by kneeing him in between his ribs. Forcing himself to a quick recovery, Bryan swayed backwards to sort out his breathing once more. Remaining in the stance Brianna had taught him, he caught Bruce's cocky attention as he, too, acquired his stance. "Like sister like brother," he declared. "Your style is the same, classless psychopathy your sister raped of Muay Thai. You will never defeat anyone with it."

Using this sermon as a distraction, Bryan quickly swept Bruce's feet from the ground, and while he was still mid-air, Bryan gave a spinning leap kick to send him flying all the way to the opposite wall. Now the white-haired Chinaman stepped forward, but offered no challenge to enraged Bryan while Bruce used his chance to get himself together once more. "You're a lot stronger than I thought," he growled, pulling out a knife from his pocket. Its blade flashed in the dim light, warning of its sharpness and thirst of blood. Bryan didn't give a damn; he waited until Bruce was close enough before jabbing a 1-2 at his face. He prepared to knee him in the guts, but Bruce recovered faster than he thought. Bryan only saw the flash of the blade before he felt the cold steel burning his face, piercing his eye and tearing open his left cheek. Never ever had he cried out like that. Bruce continued the arc of the knife, digging it to Bryan's left collar bone and cutting all the way down to Bryan's stomach. He shoved Bryan down, leaving the knife sticking out of hits guts and turned to the assassins in the shadows.

"You. Hand me over your gun."

Slowly Bryan pulled the knife out of his body, and reached for his mobile phone in his pocket. Not taking it out, he tapped in the Interpol emergency code and let it call. He tried not to care of the pain that burned him, succeeding at some rate, but he couldn't bear the pain that crushed his heart; he had failed to avenge Sis, and now he was slaughtered by the same man. Shame and sorrow filled whatever was left of his consciousness. Just barely he was able to see the muzzle of Bruce's pistol, even though it was just a few inches from his forehead.

"This is it, Bryan," he declared. "This is the end of the line. You failed. You failed to avenge your sister, you failed your career – your colleagues will surely find out your business with the Mishima Zaibatsu, and you will be ruined. But don't feel so bad. After all, you'll be reunited with your dear Sis again."

Bruce cocked the pistol and aimed at Bryan's guts.

"Tell Brianna I said hi."

Bruce pulled the trigger, the bullets drilled their way into Bryan's abdominals, but he didn't really feel anything anymore, just the sorrow and shame that tore his sanity gradually into nothingness. Bruce was right. He had failed. Failed everything. It pained him to imagine everything that might happen, how he would be remembered as a wreck of a corrupted detective, all his work would be flushed down the toilet like any pile of shit and no one would no longer give a damn as to who killed both him and Sis. Owww, how it burnt. Wulong would make sure all their memories would be tainted with this dishonour – he would never be arsed to investigate what really happened.

Fuck Wulong. Fuck the Interpol.

Fuck everybody.

Bryan was no longer alive when the Interpol hit group raided the warehouse. No one had the time to escape the bust. The Medevac attempted to revive Bryan, but in vain. His funeral was held a week afterwards; he received a hero's goodbyes and was remembered a legend.

This he, however, never got to know.

END OF CHAPTER 1

TO BE CONTINUED

Notes:

Yes, I know that "Nessaja" is a Scooter song. It's a tribute :)

The Undead are partly based on the Dead Men of Predator: Concrete Jungle. The Working Girls are also from this game. I couldn't be arsed to invent whole groups for such a brief mention.

"La Costa Lotta" is a reference to Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love For Sail


	24. Fury Incarnate

Path of Endurance

Disclaimer: Tekken characters © Namco, rest © moi. That's it.

Chapter 24: Fury Incarnate

In Buddhism, the first Noble Truth of four is that life is suffering. When a child is born, they suffer, and their mothers suffer. When people age, they face mental and physical suffering. They grow old, their bodies don't work, they suffer for that. The Buddhists say that even dying is suffering. If nothing else, then suffering of the mourning relatives.

Bryan had suffered this all already, but his sufferings wouldn't end here.

It felt like every one of his cells would explode any second. The pain tore him violently, if there had been anything in his bowels it was definitely in his pants now. Fortunately his bowels had been cut out, straightened, washed, rinsed and replaced, just like pretty much every vital organ of his that had been saved. The rest were replaced with artificial equivalents.

The electric current shook Bryan's body on a metal surgery table. He would've flown clean off, had he not been strapped tightly to it. And just as suddenly as it had started, the electric current disappeared, leaving Bryan gasping for breath.

"It's ALIVE!"

The shout came from the same room, not many meters away from him. A bald, old man wearing pink safety glasses and a lab coat straight out of some sci-fi movie. There was something strangely familiar about this man, but what... that Bryan couldn't put a finger on. The man grinned. "Welcome back..." he said. "Do you know who I am?"

Bryan stared, eyes round like a dollar coin.

"Do you know who you are?"

No response.

"Good, very good... your memories were completely erased. I so do hate when my creations claim autonomy on account of their former lives... perhaps you won't disappoint me."

He opened up Bryan's straps, letting him sit up. "I am Doctor Abel, your creator," he said. "Your god, if you like, but let's keep it informal, shall we. You, on the other hand, are Z-03 prototype model of a re-animated human. A cyborg. Since you're my first prototype that didn't go wrong, I will call you by name. A name that you might remember."

Abel turned to him, too close. "Fury. Bryan Fury."

Bryan attempted to speak, if only a word, but nothing came. Speaking was too heavy, or something was amiss. Abel gave a minor, sadistic chuckle. "You want to say something, my boy? Go on. You should be able to speak, though I don't guarantee..."

"W...wh...what..."

"What. Yes."

"...i...i...ish...is..."

"Is."

"...g-goin'... on...?"

"Ah, yes. 'What is going on', he asks. Well, I'll tell you, you see, you were killed."

Letting Bryan pull one of the most priceless faces he had ever seen, Abel sat down on a comfortable seat and leaned back. This would be quite a story. "You were a police officer, doing your duty, when you walked into an ambush," he said, as if he was reading a bedtime story. "Your comrades were far away from you, and most likely weren't bothered about your distress. Your body was brought to me, and I revived you, so you could do a few iddy-biddy favors for an old man like myself. Still following?"

Abel smirked only inwards; he knew how the Devil fooled mortals. Add in a slice of truth and the lies become one with it. He could almost see the rage building up within Bryan, though whether it was the anger he just gave him or the uncontrollable fury that had been built up and held down all his life, that he couldn't tell. It didn't even matter, it would all serve his purpose. His pet the destroyer... sweet killing machine.

While Bryan was in an explosion point, Abel turned and took a folder from his desk. Opening it up in front of Bryan, he showed various blurry photographs, mostly of a man in a mask, an unmarked black motorcycle Kawasaki Ninja and a vision of a mechanical hand, a frame taken just before the security camera that took the image was destroyed. Upon seeing it Bryan momentarily felt he couldn't breathe. It was... familiar. He must've seen it before. Something inside him screamed, trying to remind him of what he had forgotten, but he couldn't understand. He could almost feel the hand's metal in his fingertips, but it was too distant.

"This man is a dangerous terrorist," Abel described. "He runs a vicious group of the like. They call themselves the 'Manji Clan'. We have very little information about its number of members and how wide-spread they are. The leader operates under codename 'Yoshimitsu'. No one has seen his face and lived to tell about it, but we have acquired a photograph of a man we believe to be none other than him."

He gave Bryan a black-and-white photograph, bad quality and blurred, but one could see a man, approximately in late twenties, early thirties. He hid part of his face under dark sunglasses, but they didn't hide a painful-looking scar that ran across his face. His long, black hair was tied to a tight ponytail on top of his head, and he was talking to a mobile phone with a slightly miffed expression on his face. Apparently he could've used a cigarette.

_No way. He doesn't smoke. Does he? At least he didn't smell like it._

Bryan was slightly startled by these thoughts. Did he know him? Had he met him if he knew what he smelt like?

Ignoring Bryan, Abel carried on his briefing; "We know very little of codename Yoshimitsu. His real name, accurate age, location and the like are a great mystery even to the most skilled agents, but we do know where to find him soon."

He took an envelope from the pocket of his lab coat and handed it over to Bryan, who tore it open and pulled out its contents. An invitation, to a fighting tournament called 'Tekken' – Iron Fist. "I am aware of your good close quarters combat skills," Abel said. "And I did what I could to save your skills while bringing you back to life. You are most welcome to re-discover them, as a matter of fact, we insist that you do – we have built a sparring hall for you. What we want in return, is that you enter this tournament, and find this man. You have to face codename Yoshimitsu, defeat him and bring him to us. He has been linked to a rival of mine, to a certain Dr. Boskonovitch. Once we get Yoshimitsu, we will squeeze all the information we need from him, and bring these criminals to justice. After that is all done, you can carry on with your li... er, unlife, or however you like it. Do we have a deal?"

It didn't occur to Bryan until much later that he never had any choice. He spent his time practising his skills with various dummies and the like, including a less-than-intelligent guard that challenged him. Poor dear couldn't turn his head to the right any more.

Bryan's living quarters weren't a lot bigger than a prison cell, and it even looked something along the lines of that. He had a bed, a desk and not really anything else. All his belongings were returned to him, along with his wallet that still had the detective's badge in it. He browsed through it every night, trying to find clues about his life that he no longer remembered. His driving license gave away his name, nationality and age, but nothing much else. He found a note, directed to 'major B. Fury', telling the new drill instructors would arrive on time and that the mess should be informed as well.

He was about to put his wallet away and go to bed, when he noticed that there was a rather big rip in the seam inside the wallet. Taking a closer look, he saw something hidden into the hole the rip had created. He pulled out an old photograph that had been neatly folded to fit the rip in the seam. In the photo there were two people, one of which Bryan supposed was himself around the age of ten, give or take. The other one, a young woman in her early twenties or so, had wrapped her arms around him protectively and rested her chin lightly on the top of his head. She looked surprisingly much like him; their facial structure was near identical and their eyes shared the same icy colour, but her hair was black like coal.

_Hmm..., ah, yes, that's right. I'm partially an albino, my hair doesn't have colour pigments._

It was almost like a sound in his head, the thoughts that took their own courses. Something inside him was trying to wake up, scream, be heard, but he couldn't hear nor understand. What was it that his former self was trying to tell him?

Bryan kept staring at the woman in the picture. She awoke feelings inside him, but he couldn't tell what it was, or why. He didn't even know who she was. She could be a relative, since they looked very much the same, and judging by their positions they had been very close. Whoever she was, she had been of great importance to him.

Folding the photograph neatly into its hiding place again, Bryan put his walled aside and switched off the lights. He would need to rest and calm down now. Tomorrow he would enter the third Tekken Tournament ever held, do what that crazy doc had asked him to and get the hell out of there, back to USA where he had born. Maybe he could find answers then.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
